Evangelion: New Testament
by MacBeth2001
Summary: Continuation, in which Third Impact was only a nightmare vision of what might have been. Six weeks after Episode 24, everyone returns to a rebuilt Tokyo3 to continue their lives and face an uncertain future...
1. Episode 1, part 1

Notes: My first posted Fan Fic, please R+R! (Well, that's it for the shameless begging.)

So, here it is, beginning right where Episode 26 left off.

"End of Evangelion" happened, but was a dream, except for the first scene in Asuka's hospital room. (I know that sounds cheesy, but I'm not writing the movie off. EoE will greatly influence this sequel, though Third Impact has not occurred.)

And that's assuming the EoE Episodes override the originals in the canon. Okay? Okay.

Finally: I don't own Evangelion…. Who needs death threats?

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**Evangelion: New Testament**

Episode: 1

"Awakenings"

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"Shinji?"

Shinji Ikari doesn't move, pretending he hadn't heard.

"Shinji?"

He hopes his blanket covers him enough, and that his room is dark enough, that she can't see him trembling.

"Give it up, Misato," cuts in a new voice. "Shinji doesn't do anything anymore besides lie in bed all day. That's fine, though. If he doesn't want to help with the party, he doesn't need to come, does he?"

"Asuka, go get breakfast," Misato tells her.

"I've already had breakfast, actually. I still get up in the morning, unlike some people!"

"Then go get Pen-pen his breakfast," Misato says. She gives Asuka a disapproving look that quells further argument. Shinji hears angry footsteps stomp toward the kitchen as the door to his room slides closed. He is uncomfortably aware that he has not been left alone.

Misato Katsuragi stands over Shinji for a while in silence. She watches the dust dance in the slivers of daylight that penetrate his closed shade. As her eyes adjust, she notices Shinji shaking beneath his covers, his hair stuck to his forehead with sweat. Before she can ask, he answers her unspoken question.

"I had the dream again," he tells her. "It was the same as all the other times. I still can't remember all the details, just images and feelings that don't make sense. Except, at the end, I know that everyone is dead." It makes Shinji feel better to confide in Misato, even though he still can't bring himself to tell her everything.

The truth is, there is one part of the nightmare that he can recall with crystal clarity. In it, Misato kisses him deeply, with a promise of more. And thinking about that part now, alone in his room with her, he finds a uniquely male problem arising. Shinji quickly shoves his blanket between his legs and thinks unpleasant thoughts, trying to smother it. But the word "unpleasant" invariably brings Asuka to his mind, and thoughts of her do nothing to alleviate the situation.

"I know you've been through a lot, Shinji. We all have. But this has got to stop," Misato says, tearing open the shade. For an instant, Shinji is blinded, and in that instant, Misato rips off his covers. "And you need to get up!"

"Oh," she continues with a trace of amusement, "I guess you already did." Shinji turns away, embarrassed, just as his pants fly through the air, hitting him in the head. "Put these on and meet me at the car. We're going to the store."

In the kitchen, Asuka Langley Soryu leans against the counter, watching with disinterest as a penguin eats noisily in front of her. She's already wearing the new dress she'd bought for this evening's party. It's white, has a pink floral print, a short, breezy skirt, and thin straps. On the way out, Misato sees her and pauses.

"You can still change your mind about coming with us," Misato tells her. Asuka frowns, appearing to consider, but then spies Shinji walking past. His eyes are downcast, his shoulders are hunched, and he says nothing even as Asuka glares at him. Asuka doesn't reply until the door to outside closes behind him.

"No, thank you, Misato," she says icily. She turns curtly, knocking over a precarious pile of empty instant ramen containers. Ignoring the cardboard avalanche, she opens the refrigerator and pretends to search for something amid its sparse contents. Misato sighs, then follows Shinji out.

He waits in the car, staring absently out the window. Even Misato's arrival doesn't draw his attention. She gets in, starts the engine, and soon, Shinji is watching the pedestrians of Tokyo-3 pass swiftly by outside the glass. Seven weeks ago, this area was one of the scattered remnants of a city that had become a lake. Now, it was once again a thriving suburb. Shinji marvels at those who would return after such devastation. But, of course, they were the same people who remained in the wake of the first Angel attacks.

"Maybe Asuka's right," he says after a few minutes. "Maybe I shouldn't come to the party." Without warning, Misato slams on the brakes. Shinji thanks himself for remembering to wear his seat belt as it presses hard into his chest.

"Oh, no you don't, Shinji Ikari!" Misato exclaims, pointing her finger at his face. "Toji was your friend before he went to the hospital, and I won't have you avoiding him now that he's finally out! Asuka's been home for three weeks now, and you're still treating her like a pariah. She's too proud to say anything, but I'm sure her feelings are hurt."

"I'm sorry, Misato," Shinji says. He remembers Asuka lying unconscious, her chest exposed. He remembers with shame what he did then. Slowly, he becomes aware of car horns blaring.

"Alright, alright!" Misato yells out her open window. "Have some patience, will ya?" With a squeal of tires, the car hurtles forward once more.

"But… what if Toji doesn't want to be a pilot, after what happened?" asks Shinji. He grips his armrest as Misato takes a corner at high speed.

"Well…," she says, sounding uncertain, "your first time in an Eva was a lot like his. And you're still a pilot."

"I nearly quit," Shinji says quietly, "twice." His seat belt assaults him again as the car comes to a halt in front of the store.

"Besides," Misato says, opening her door, "there's positive speculation that the Angel attacks have stopped for good. It's been over a month since-" (she catches herself before saying the name) "-since the last one."

_But what am I suppose to do then_, Shinji thinks to himself, _just go back to being a normal kid? How can I? What about what I did to Toji? What about what I did to Kaworu? What about what I did to myself, alone in Asuka's hospital room? And what about what I've been dreaming about doing to you, Misato?_

Dozens of questions swim through Shinji's mind. Only one of them is Shinji both willing to ask Misato and hopeful that she can help him answer. But she's gone from the car before it escapes his lips.

"What about Rei?"

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Rei Ayanami awakes with a start; her eyes snap open and she draws breath sharply. She is lying in her bed, though she would not have been surprised to find herself anywhere else. What startled her was the sense that, on the edge of waking, someone had been calling her name.

She sits up cautiously. Glancing quickly at the meager confines of her apartment, she finds no one else present. Her attention is drawn, however, to the small gift box sitting on her dresser. Other thoughts are pushed aside as she remembers the impending party.

It will be a twofold homecoming celebration for Suzuhara. He finished physical therapy and was given a clean bill of health at almost the same time as Tokyo-3 had been made livable again. Major Katsuragi had the idea to welcome him back, and she's seen to all the arrangements. She even purchased a gift for Rei to bring in the hope of coercing her into attending.

Rei, though, does not intend to do so. She plans to drop by Misato's apartment early, leave the gift to avoid being rude to her or Toji, then depart before the party begins. She stands and removes her nightshirt in preparation for a shower before going out.

The sunlight from Rei's window warms her body as she moves through it from her bedside to the bathroom. After making sure her towel is hanging in place, she turns on the faucet. The surrounding silence is shattered as water plummets from the shower-head to the tub floor. She enters immediately, closing the plastic curtain behind her.

The icy water stings until her body gets used to it. It doesn't make sense to Rei to waste water while waiting for its temperature to rise. She dowses her hair as the cold water slowly becomes less so. It's hot by the time she finishes washing. She lets the water cascade over her, then tips her head back to rinse her hair.

"Rei," someone calls. With her head immersed, she nearly misses hearing it. She straightens her neck, straining to listen, as she gropes for the faucet handle.

"Commander Ikari?" she asks, turning off the shower. Silence returns to the small apartment, broken only by the sound of water dripping. No one answers her. Rei notices an unfamiliar shadow against the shower curtain, vaguely human in shape.

"Shinji?" she says.

Pulling back the curtain reveals… nothing. The bathroom is empty. Walking into the rooms beyond, she is met only by further emptiness and silence. She feels a chill, but it's just an errant breeze against her wet skin. Though unsettled, she can think of no recourse but to continue the tasks already before her.

Rei dries, then dresses herself without further incident. Once she is finally ready to go, the strangeness of the morning is more easily ignored, but not yet forgotten. She feels relief, stepping out of her own door. Without looking back, she begins the trek to Misato's apartment with Suzuhara's present in hand. She doesn't notice the storm clouds gathered on the distant horizon.

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Shinji exits the store, for the third time dragging behind him numerous over-filled plastic bags. His face falls when he sees Misato struggling to fit the bags he'd already brought out into her car. He draws closer to her, wincing at the crunching sound, as she shoves bag after bag in the open hatch-back. With a great effort, consisting of throwing herself bodily onto it, Misato manages to shut the rear of the car.

She leans against it for several seconds, panting, before noticing Shinji and his load. When she does, her eyes narrow and she lets out a heavy sigh. She strides wearily to the passenger side, opens the door, and adjusts the seat as far forward as possible. Bags tumble over each other into the newly created space. She slams the door closed, returns to the back of the car and opens it.

"Um… Misato," Shinji asks, "do we really need this much beer?" It feels, to him, like the tenth time he's asked that question since they began shopping. He's correct; it is.

"Well, I didn't just invite kids to Toji's party, you know," she answers, stuffing the last of the bags in the car. "I invited your father, for example."

"You invited my father?" asks Shinji, wide-eyed.

"Yes… but, I doubt if he'll actually come. I also invited the Vice-Commander, though I don't know if he'll come if the Commander himself isn't. I told Toji's father and grandfather that they'd be welcome, but I don't think they want to come. Kensuke Aida's father answered back that he can't make it. And I invited Lieutenant Ibuki, but she's probably too busy. Oh, and Rei! I'm sure Rei wasn't going to show, until I got her that present to bring."

"Rei drinks beer?" exclaims Shinji in shock. Misato pauses a moment, puzzled.

"I thought we were talking about who wasn't coming," she says. Shinji opens his mouth, but can't think of a response. Misato shrugs.

After forcing the hatch-back closed once more, she opens her door and drops down into the driver's seat. Shinji opens the other door and tries, with minimal success, to painlessly wedge himself into the tiny space remaining between his seat and the dashboard.

As they begin the drive home, Shinji hears a distant rumble, like thunder, except that it doesn't abate. Slowly, the sound grows louder. Misato doesn't seem to notice and Shinji has no desire to distract her from her driving to point it out. He looks to the sky, searching. What he sees is his nightmare made real.

Three black planes, looking like nothing more than a flying set of wings, approach Tokyo-3 from the east. Shinji knows them from experience even before he recalls them from the dream. They are Eva transport planes. But it's the white, faceless Eva under the lead plane that fills him with visions of half-remembered terror. In a panic, his breath catches in his throat and he can make no sound but a pitiful whisper.

"Shinji?" Misato asks, noticing his distress. Her voice calms him and he finds his own again.

"We're being attacked!" he says, pointing out his window. He looks to Misato, not knowing what to do. He can't explain or even fully understand his own certainty. He only adds, "They're going to kill everyone."

Misato tries to look, seeing only three black shapes against gray clouds. But she can think of no reason to doubt Shinji that would be worth the risk of him being correct. She jerks the wheel, sending the car directly toward the nearest elevator down to the Geo-front. As the entrance closes behind them, she steals another look.

"That didn't look like an Angel. Were those… Eva transport planes?" she mutters to herself. As soon as the car begins its descent, she pulls out her cell phone and dials. While it rings, she glances over at Shinji. He's trembling and sweating, much like she found him this morning.

"Hello?" she says, once connected. "Hyuga, this is Misato. Do you have Rei or Asuka on site…? Damn! Okay, I'm en route with Shinji. Prep Unit-01 for launch…. What do you mean "why?" Shinji and I just I.D.ed three incoming hostiles in Tokyo-3 airspace…! Well, you better have them on radar by the time I get down there!"

Misato throws the phone behind her in frustration. It rings almost immediately. She turns to retrieve it from the backseat, but finds she has accidentally buried it in a mountain of groceries. She shuts her eyes tightly and grimaces, remaining that way until she and Shinji reach NERV HQ.

Upon arrival, Misato sends Shinji off to board his entry plug, then heads for the Command Center by herself. The scene that greets her there is not what she'd expected. The warning sirens are silent. Most of the viewscreens show nothing. Maya Ibuki and Makoto Hyuga sit with their backs to their control panels, watching Misato nervously as she enters.

"Why are we not on alert?" she asks, stepping to the front of the control platform. Below her, the Magi hum softly.

"I cancelled the alert, Major," calls a familiar voice. Misato looks up. Commander Gendo Ikari stands at the edge of the platform above. He holds his hands behind his back and stares down his nose at her.

"With all due respect, Commander," she begins, "I observed three aircraft, minutes ago, that I believe were transporting Evas. Lieutenant Hyuga and I have suspected for some time that the Evas in production around the globe are being amassed not for defense against the Angels, but to attack and seize this facility. It seems that we may be witnessing that eventuality right now!"

"We are not, Major," states Commander Ikari.

"But, Commander-" she starts.

"You forget your place, Major," he interrupts. "I am fully aware of the Evangelions now arriving by air. They belong to us."

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On a sidewalk at the corner of a quiet suburban intersection, a young boy stands, looking quite lost. He runs one hand through his short, brown hair as he studies the crudely drawn map clutched in the other. With a sigh, he stuffs the paper in a jacket pocket, pushes his glasses back up his nose, and studies his surroundings as unenthusiastically as ever.

In the process of looking around, he spies a girl, about his age, walking briskly away from him on the other side of the street. With a smile of apparent recognition, he crosses the street, then quickens his pace to try to overtake her. He marvels at the almost robotic uniformity of the girl's speed and gait. If he falters, she is so unwavering that he must jog to make up ground. Eventually, he manages to reach her.

"Hello!" he says cheerfully. He begins to offer his hand in a friendly gesture, but, realizing his mistake, quickly bows instead. When he rises from his bow, he finds she has continued up the street. Another short burst of jogging and he is at her side once more.

"Uh, pardon me," he asks nervously, "but… are you Rei Ayanami?" Her eyes acknowledge him briefly, but she continues walking.

"Yes," she says simply.

"I knew I recognized you," he says confidently, trying to hide his relief. "I saw you back there, and I figured you were probably headed to Major Katsuragi's apartment, just like me, so I thought we could walk together." He congratulates himself on not revealing to Rei the fact that he was lost, then feels foolish, remembering something else he has not revealed.

"Oh, by the way," he adds hurriedly, "I'm Kaagi! Kaagi Chuda."

Rei surmises that he must be a friend of Suzuhara's, coming early to the party. It's a fair assumption. He looks like a cross between Shinji and Aida, with glasses, short hair, an ever-present grin, and a thin frame. He even said he recognized her. But, though he seems familiar, she can't recall ever seeing him before.

She turns her eyes back toward him, taking a longer look this time. He catches her staring and smiles at her. At that moment, the dark clouds above send a light rain falling down upon them. Rei keeps staring, confused, as Kaagi looks up, frowns, then unzips his jacket. In one quick motion, he removes it and drapes it around her head and shoulders. She's startled at first, but soon understands his intention.

"Thank you," she says, blushing. He just keeps smiling as the rain slowly soaks his shirt and hair.

"No, don't thank me," he tells her. "I only gave you the jacket. I still have an umbrella in my pocket for me."

"Oh," Rei says. Kaagi looks mortified.

"Oh, no, Rei! That was a joke," he says. He feels guilty and stupid.

"Oh," she says again.

They walk on through an awkward silence.

"If you like, you can put that in one of my pockets," Kaagi says finally, indicating the small box Rei still carries. A few water spots dot the pink paper in which it's wrapped, but it's not yet ruined. "Did you wrap it yourself?"

"Yes," she says. She remembers Misato dropping by one day, in a hurry to be somewhere else, thrusting the present at her along with some scraps of paper she'd probably dug out of an unkempt closet. She remembers taking time and care, folding the corners just so. "But… I don't remember ever learning how."

"It's very well done," Kaagi replies, though he doesn't feel like she was speaking to him. Rei still looks as if her thoughts are elsewhere as she places the gift inside his jacket.

The rain picks up and Kaagi starts to shiver. He hopes the apartment isn't far, but he can't ask while pretending that he knows where he's going. Rei doesn't choose to continue conversing, and he now lacks the confidence to do so. He hums a bit, for no reason other than the hope that she'll ask him what the song is. She doesn't.

Distracted by disappointment, he almost misses Rei turning and entering the next building.

Several stories above, Asuka lies sleeping in her bed. She's on her stomach, her face buried in a pillow. The brand-new dress sits in a crumpled heap in one corner of the room. She'd stripped it off and thrown it there after it had failed to impress Shinji earlier. Now, the sound of the doorbell stirs her from an accidental nap.

Lifting her head, the first thing she sees is the dress. She sneers at it before rolling out of bed. It was the first new piece of clothing she'd gotten since leaving the hospital. It's tasteful, yet revealing, but still Shinji had ignored her. Standing and stretching, she examines her underwear-clad body in her wall mirror and concludes that there must be something wrong with Shinji. All the other boys from school still dote on her, even though she returns none of their affections, deeming them undeserving. And whom could she deem more undeserving than Shinji? In fact, she can't remember why she'd even bothered trying to get his attention, anyway!

The doorbell sounds again, interrupting her musings. Asuka rolls her eyes, grabs a school uniform off the floor, and puts it on as she makes her way to the door. She notices the rain out the window and the clock on the VCR. Hours have passed since she dosed off after going to her room to sulk.

_Where are Shinji and Misato? _she wonders. _They should have been back already, unless that's them now. Ha! I can just picture it: lazy Shinji lets Misato carry most of the bags, tells her he'll get the door, but the idiot forgot his key!_

Asuka puts on her best "put out" face before opening the door. Behind it, she finds a boy and a girl, both waiting patiently. It's obvious that they've been outside in the rain. The boy is drenched from head to foot. His white dress-shirt has turned transparent, his hair is matted, and his glasses are covered with water spots. The girl isn't quite as wet, thanks to the jacket on her head. Asuka continues to convey displeasure at her inconvenience, despite having only had to walk about twenty feet versus several blocks in the rain.

"Guten Tag, fraulein!" says the boy, grinning. Unfazed, he strides past Asuka into the apartment. The jacket-headed girl remains in the doorway.

"Sprechen ze Deutch?" asks Asuka in bewilderment.

"Ach, nein," replies the boy, giggling slightly.

"Vas?" says Asuka, now annoyed.

"I think he was making a joke," states the girl in the doorway. With no trace of irony, she adds, "He does that."

"You?" challenges Asuka. She peers beneath the jacket and discovers Rei's expressionless face. "What are you doing here? And who is that?"

"I'm Kaagi," says Kaagi helpfully. "Kaagi Chuda." Asuka eyes him suspiciously.

"Are you the boy who keeps writing me love letters in German?" she asks.

"Well, no-"

"Because the syntax and grammar are always wrong!" she complains, interrupting. "The punctuation never fits. And who ever heard of German haiku?"

"He's a friend of Suzuhara's," says Rei flatly. "He's here for the party."

"Well, you're early…," says Asuka dismissively, "both of you." She turns back to Rei, smugly raising an eyebrow. "And my, isn't this is quite a switch, Ms. Ayanami? I thought you didn't do parties."

"I'm not staying," says Rei. She takes the jacket off her head, removes a small box from one of its pockets, then hands both items to Kaagi. "Please see that Toji receives this gift."

"Okay, but…," Kaagi replies, trailing off as she turns to leave. "But wait! Please don't go. It's still raining really hard out there, and… well… why don't you stay for the party? We can talk more. We didn't get to, much, on the way here."

_Is Toji's dork friend actually hitting on Wonder Girl?_ thinks Asuka, in disbelief.

Kaagi hopes that Rei's considering. She hasn't turned back around, but nor has she begun walking away.

_Why don't I stay? _she wonders_. Where am I going? I'm no longer required to report for periodic memory uploads. I am the third, but… there are no others, now. What is my purpose? Sometimes, it feels like the Commander doesn't need me anymore. Other times, it feels as though he needs me now more than ever. What is my purpose?_

"It looks like she's really deep in thought, but she's just too stuck-up to bother listening," Asuka tells Kaagi.

"I'm staying," announces Rei quietly, surprising them both. She even surprises herself, just a little. She doesn't look to either Kaagi or Asuka; she just turns around and walks inside, past them.

"If you're looking for Misato," Asuka calls after her, "she's not back yet. Neither is Shinji."

"Were they summoned to the base?" asks Rei. She actually appears to Asuka to be concerned, but Asuka presumes it's only concern that she might be shirking her duty.

"Don't be stupid!" Asuka snaps. "They went shopping. If there was some kind of emergency, NERV headquarters would have called us!" She shows her dormant cell phone to Rei condescendingly. Rei, unimpressed, checks her own cell for missed calls anyway.

"Yeah, I don't think there's anything to worry about," says Kaagi.

Asuka turns toward him, ready to deliver a scathing "who asked you?" but she stops when she sees him checking an identical cell phone. Her jaw drops open and her phone slips from her grasp, landing with a loud clatter on the floor.

"Oh," says Rei with mild curiosity. "The Sixth Child."

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Episode Midpoint

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Notes: I wanted to have a single chapter be a whole Episode, so I could end with a definite "To Be Continued." But whoa, that got long. So it's "Midpoint," like an ADV DVD.


	2. Episode 1, part 2

**Evangelion: New Testament**

Episode: 1 (part 2)

"Awakenings"

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Misato had never been called into the Commander's office before. She'd never been in it, period, except by virtual conferencing. Far across the great expanse, Gendo Ikari sits behind his desk, staring back at her. At his right stands Kouzou Fuyutsuki. Two months ago, she might have found the Vice-Commander's presence reassuring. He always seemed to her to be more empathetic and understanding than Ikari. But, since Ritsuko, Misato finds trusting anyone to be very hard indeed.

She walks with deliberate slowness toward them. Looking down as she goes, she notices the many holographic emitters embedded in the floor and completely misses the unilluminated pictograms on the ceiling. Upon reaching the desk, however, her head is raised and her eyes are level. She stands at attention, but that's as much protocol as her wounded ego will allow.

"Why was I not informed about the arrival of Units 05, 06, and 07?" asks Misato, out of turn. Fuyutsuki appears ready to discipline her at the slightest sign from Ikari, but none is given.

"I believe you are in charge of Tactical Operations, Major," states the Commander, "not Parts and Acquisitions. If I'm mistaken, then I have several invoices that require your signature."

He lets her seethe in anger and humiliation for a while as he consults some paperwork set before him. Misato's clenched fists shake at her sides, but words fail her.

"So, since you seem to have nothing further," Commander Ikari continues, "we can address why I called you here today. First, there is the matter of your accessing restricted information, including unauthorized contact with a prisoner under isolation. I also understand Lieutenant Hyuga assisted in these transgressions."

"I take full responsibility, Commander," states Misato. "The Lieutenant was only acting on my orders." She hopes that Ikari isn't familiar enough with Hyuga's reckless initiative to know that she's lying.

"Very well," he says. "I am therefore putting both of you on official probation for the next six months. In addition, I am docking your pay by twenty-five percent for the next four weeks. I will tell you, I was almost willing to overlook your collusion, until your bringing it to light today forced me to do the same. I trust I am not being too lenient to discourage this behavior?"

"No, sir," replies Misato.

"Good," says Ikari, shuffling more papers. "Also, let me inform you that Dr. Ritsuko Akagi has been relieved of duty and had her clearances revoked. Any further association between the two of you may bring you under undue scrutiny from Section 2, as was the case with Mr. Kaji. Do not attempt to contact her again."

"Would there really be any point in trying?" Misato asks, quavering slightly. The Commander ignores her question.

_Ritsuko and Kaji are probably looking up from Hell and laughing their asses off at me,_ she thinks bitterly.

"As to the second matter," continues Ikari, "I need you to give me your assessment of the status of the pilots in your care."

"Well, sir," Misato begins, "due to recent circumstances, Shinji has effectively been our only active pilot for the better part of seven weeks. And the stress has definitely taken its toll on him. He's been depressed, lethargic"

"I have the counselor's psych report, Major," interrupts Ikari. "What I am asking is: if necessary, can he pilot an Eva?"

"Yes, sir," she replies. She feels her wrath deflating under the Commander's withering gaze.

"I see… and the Second Child?"

"Physically, Asuka's at one-hundred percent, but she hasn't had a synch test since her hospitalization. The counselor wants us to be certain she'll succeed before we put her through that. Failure could crush her. She's still working through a lot of denial."

"I want her at Matsushiro in two days," Ikari tells her. "No more delays. She should have started her synch tests before the Sixth Child. Certainly no later."

"Yes, sir," says Misato, resigned to the fact that arguing would be pointless. Through the fog of her apathy, her brain screams at her to recognize the anomaly in Ikari's words. Blinking rapidly, it dawns on her. "Wait, did you say Sixth Child?"

"Yes," he replies. "He arrived at your apartment this morning. I have in front of me the documents transferring his legal guardianship to you, alongside these forms acknowledging your reprimand. Sign here, here, and here."

"B-but…," she stammers. She takes the offered pen and signs, as ordered, without thinking, while her mind tries to process all the new information. "…but, I've been gone most of the morning."

"So you haven't met him yet," says the Commander, unconcerned. "His name is Kage."

"Kaagi, sir," corrects Fuyutsuki.

"I haven't even received a preliminary report from the Marduk Institute," continues Misato, still somewhat dazed. Ikari sighs heavily.

"We both know you've been told the truth about Marduk, Major," he says. "A report would be a waste of everyone's time. You may take my son and go, now. You're dismissed."

"Yes, sir. Thank you, sir," she says unconvincingly. She bows to Ikari and Fuyutsuki, then turns and begins the long walk out of the office.

Once her head begins to clear, she feels the anger boiling up again. It was nothing less than a blatant insult to not be told ahead of time about the Sixth Child's arrival. But if they no longer trust her, she has no one to blame but herself for keeping secrets from them, however hypocritical that may be on their part. As she leaves, she takes what small satisfaction she can from the fact that she didn't give back the pen.

"So," the Vice-Commander says after she's gone, "between what Kaji leaked to her and what Akagi showed her, do you think Major Katsuragi knows too much?" Gendo Ikari takes no time to consider.

"It doesn't matter what she knows or doesn't know, as long as she continues to serve our purpose," he says. Fuyutsuki remains unsure, but doesn't show it.

_And as long as she's not serving anyone else's, _he thinks.

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Toji Suzuhara stirs slowly from his slumber to find himself beneath an unfamiliar ceiling. The sad irony of this being that he's finally home, but he's grown more accustomed to waking in a hospital room, after all his time there. It also serves to remind him that this isn't really his home. It's just a copy; built to replace the one destroyed by the flood.

"Rise and shine, Sleeping Beauty!" shouts Kensuke Aida. Toji squints, looking up into the face of his friend hovering above him, partially obscured as it is by the presence of his camcorder.

"Ugh," says Toji, pulling a pillow over his head. Muffled, he continues, "What are you doing here? What time is it?"

"Oh my gosh, you really don't remember?" gasps Kensuke, peering over the camera at him. "Today's the day of your party! Boy, if the beautiful Misato wanted to throw me a party, I sure wouldn't forget."

"I didn't forget," Toji says with annoyance. He takes the pillow off his head and throws it at Kensuke. It hits him softly in the gut, but he keeps on taping.

"Well, I sure wouldn't be late, either," he chides. He moves away from Toji's bedside and over to the window. The rain has stopped, but the sun still refuses to show itself. "It's gonna be starting soon. I got here a while ago, but your dad wouldn't let me come up until now. He said you needed your rest."

"Oh, man," moans Toji. Kensuke hears his friend behind him, dragging his tired body out of bed and beginning to rifle through his dresser.

"It's really amazing, you know?" Kensuke says, shooting footage of the cityscape beyond the window. "In just six weeks, they got the city back together again, almost as good as new. Of course, most of the big buildings were retracted safely underground when Unit-00 went up. The hardest part was draining and damming Lake Ashino and rebuilding all the homes people lost.

"They sure did a good job on yours, Toji. I can't even tell the difference," he adds as he pans round the room. Into the viewfinder comes Toji, in a state of partial undress.

"Hey, shut that off!" he yells. He tries to run away, but the pants around his knees trip him and he falls gracelessly out of frame.

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On a walkway suspended high upon a wall, Shinji sits, staring out into the vast room they call the "Cage." His back rests against the wall and his arms lay limp at his sides. He's the picture of defeat, though he hadn't even gotten started.

Running along this path toward his entry plug, he had been shocked to feel the Cage moving. He'd wasted no time, staying in his street clothes and only putting on the neural transmitters, before rushing to the plug. Unit-01 hadn't even been released from its holding area and loaded onto a catapult yet. But the massive machinery behind the walls was already positioning the room under specific exit shafts. When unfamiliar Evas began descending from the shafts, Shinji had started screaming.

His cries brought several technicians running to his location. They calmed him, explained that the new Evas were expected, and then slowly dispersed, leaving him sitting there. Only one man remained, taking a seat right next to him. Shinji doesn't know how long it's been since then, but the man is still there, now.

He seems to be about Misato's age, with close-cropped black hair and an informal air about him. He'd look completely out of place in his black tee-shirt and khaki pants if they weren't partially covered by a long, white lab-coat. But even its sleeves are casually rolled up.

"Beautiful, aren't they?" he says finally. It takes Shinji a few moments to realize that he means the Evas, and Shinji can't disagree more. However, it's not the new Evas' differences from the old ones that scare him. It's their similarities.

Unit-05 isn't too bad. It looks just like Unit-02, except being bright blue and white where Asuka's is red and orange. The other two are the ones that really bother him. Unit-06 is nearly identical to Unit-03. It's also a mat black, but where 03's accents were white, 06's are dark red, from its knuckles, to its eyes, to the red "6" on its helmet-like head. And Unit-07 is the black and white ghost of an Eva that haunts his dreams.

"They're terrible," says Shinji, half to himself.

"Well, yes," concedes the young man beside him. "But a thing can be both terrible and beautiful at the same time. Like a lion, for example. Ferocious creature, but magnificent to behold."

_Like Asuka,_ thinks Shinji.

They continue sitting without talking and Shinji feels rather cheated. Having taken the initiative to start a dialogue by doing something as foreign to him as disagreeing with someone, the someone just agrees and that's that. He lets his ire stoke what little bravery he has and tries again.

"The head's wrong," he says, nodding at Unit-07. Its head is ovoid and featureless, like an inverted egg perched on its neck. "It should be more like the nose-cone of a plane… like a humpback whale's head… shouldn't it?"

"None of the other Evas' heads are, so it's funny you should say that… but, yeah," says the man. "At least, that was one of the original design concepts. We also considered removing the shoulder protrusions, but we didn't. It just wouldn't have looked like an Eva, you know?"

"I know," says Shinji gravely. "I think I saw it in a dream."

"If it helps, I believe that," comes the suddenly serious reply. Then, just as suddenly, the young man lightens again. "But, hey, don't tell anyone else that. They'll send you in for a psych evaluation."

"I already have psych evaluations."

"Ah," he says with embarrassment. He stands, and Shinji wonders if the man has gotten sick of staying here.

"Come on," he says, offering Shinji his hand and helping him to his feet. "I bet the Major is done talking with your father. Why don't we go meet her at the parking structure?"

He begins walking away, and Shinji dutifully follows. Together, they navigate the myriad moving sidewalks and escalators until eventually arriving at their destination. Misato is already there, standing by the car, dialing her cell phone. When she finishes, Shinji's pocket starts ringing, and she looks up.

"There you are!" she says, letting her general frustration color her tone. Calming slightly, she adds, "False alarm, but I guess you heard, huh?"

"Don't worry, Major," interjects Shinji's companion. "I've been keeping an eye on your son here the whole time."

"My wha? Hey! Just how old do you think I am?"

"It's not that," he says. "I know that you're Shinji's guardian. But from what I also know of the Commander, I'd say you're the closest thing Shinji has to a real parent, so…," he punctuates his thought with raised eyebrows and shrugged shoulders. Then, he turns to go.

_I can't believe I never considered that, _thinks Misato. _All these months I've spent trying to be like a mother to Shinji, and I've never thought of him in that way._

"Hey!" she calls out. "What's your name?"

"Yoshi," he says over his shoulder. She can't help but be intrigued by him, nor can she help but wonder if he has a cute butt under his lab-coat.

"Well, Yoshi," she says coyly, "I'm having a party for the Fourth Child at my apartment today at 4 o'clock. You can consider yourself invited."

"I'll be there," says Yoshi. "But I'm afraid that I'll be late."

"Oh," challenges Misato, "and why is that?"

"Because it's already 4:30."

Misato freezes, managing to stifle the slew of expletives she wants to spew forth. She grins sheepishly and laughs nervously instead. A second later, she's galvanized into action, throwing Shinji in the car, throwing herself in after him, and throwing the car into gear.

_Yoshi knew so much about me, _Shinji thinks as the car speeds away. _But I wouldn't even know his name if Misato hadn't asked. I guess, since he works here, it's sort of his job to know about me. "You're rather ignorant of your own position." That's what Kaworu said. I wish I could forget that. I wish I could forget him._

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The clerk in a quaint little gift shop stands at the counter, reading the latest issue of a pop music magazine. It's been a slow day. She's had only five customers, including the fifteenish-looking girl still winding her way through the merchandise. The clerk glances up occasionally to give the appearance that she's minding the store, but the girl doesn't seem to her to be the type to shoplift.

Indeed, Hikari Horaki is not. She is, however, frustrated and disappointed. This is the third shop she's been to today, and she's still without a gift for Toji. Her blind faith in miraculously stumbling upon the perfect "something" gave way to desperate searching hours ago.

_There are lots of nice things here, if only I could pick one, _Hikari thinks despairingly. _Nozomi said I should get him a sword, because boys like that sort of thing. I'm not so sure. I really like some of these picture frames, but I don't have a picture of us together to put in it._

_Kodama says I should stop "wasting my time" on Toji and let her fix me up with someone. No, thanks! Not after what Asuka told me about that med student. The guy kept putting his hands on her, even after she told him to stop. She had to leave him at the roller-coaster line, or she'd have been stuck on that ride with him while he did whatever he wanted!_

_I don't know why Asuka isn't as open with me as she used to be, _she continues thinking wistfully. _Even that last time she slept over, she just played SEGA all night. Then came the flood, and she went to the hospital. Kensuke told me they found her in the wreckage of my old house, right before they took her in, like maybe she was looking for me. I must be an awful person, because thinking about that makes me feel good._

"Miss?" calls the clerk, and Hikari looks up. "I don't mean rush you, but we're closing in fifteen minutes."

"Oh?" says Hikari. "I thought you didn't close until 5 o'clock."

"Yes, Miss. It's 4:45." Hikari turns deathly pale.

"I'm late?" she asks, choking back tears. "Oh, no. He'll think I'm horrible. He'll think I don't care!" She grabs a picture frame off the shelf in front of her and runs to the counter.

"For a guy?" asks the clerk as she rings up the purchase. Hikari just nods as she tries to count her money through misty eyes. "Don't worry. He'll like it." Hikari smiles as she wipes her face. With the transaction complete, she takes the frame and runs out the door.

"He's gonna break her heart," adds the clerk, turning another page in her magazine.

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"I'm sorry, Misato. I thought I had it with me."

"It's okay, Shinji. Just take some of these bags from me so I can unlock the door."

"I don't understand why no one's answering the doorbell."

"I told you I invited a lot of people. They're probably all talking, catching up with Toji…. Uh, could you get a few more bags from the other side? I've still got most of them."

"Well… just think how many we would've had to carry up here, if all the cold food hadn't spoiled while we were in the Geo-front."

"Um… yeah."

The apartment door slides open to reveal Shinji and Misato in the outer hallway, adorned with plastic bags. He trudges to the kitchen as she scurries to the living room. Despite being over an hour late, Misato tries to appear up-beat and puts on a brave face. Her brave face being simply a smile so large that it forces her eyes closed.

"I'm so sorry we're late, everybody," she says to the room in front of her. "But don't worry! I've got lots of snacks right here, though they might be a little crushed. And I'll have dinner made in no time!"

"It's okay. We already ordered a pizza," says Shigeru Aoba glumly.

Misato opens her eyes and her smile disappears. All of six people occupy the living room. Aoba slouches on the sofa, holding a beer and looking bored. Hyuga sits next to him, also with a beer and very obviously uncomfortable. Rei, Asuka, Toji, and Kensuke all sit on the floor in various postures ranging from Rei's cross-legged rigidity to Asuka's lazy sprawl. The TV is on, distracting them from petty nuisances such as doorbells.

"Where is everyone?" cries Misato, almost accusingly.

"A lot of the class showed up," Asuka says, diverting little of her attention from the screen. "Some of their parents, too. And some of the guys who play basketball with Toji. Y'know, from the team."

"They stuck around for a while," continues Toji. "We talked some, but they got hungry and there was nothing in the kitchen. Then Hyuga came and said you'd be late. Pretty much everybody took off after that."

"I've got it all on tape, if you'd like to see, Misato," adds Kensuke.

"Well, it's nice to know my party was a success while I wasn't here," says Misato sarcastically. A frown stays on her face through two breaths, then she resumes her brave face and announces, "Nevermind! I'm here now, and we'll continue as planned. Enjoy the snacks while I cook us up a delicious meal. Hiya, Toji! Good to see you.

"And just one more thing: if anybody touches that pizza when it gets here, I'll kill them!"

As he finishes putting the groceries away, Shinji hears Misato's death threat from the other room. He does not hear the bathroom door open or the footsteps of someone entering the kitchen. He turns around and discovers an unexpected presence.

"Yeagh!" he yelps, surprised. "Wh-who are you?"

"Kaagi Chuda," says the newcomer. "And I keep getting the impression that I'm not expected. Unless a cry of panic is how you normally greet people. If so, then "Yeagh" back at you."

"Hi! You must be Kaagi," interrupts Misato, striding into the kitchen and depositing her bags. "I'm Misato Katsuragi and-" (the doorbell interrupts her) "-and I'd better go answer that." She exits the kitchen just as Asuka walks through.

"Long time no see, Third Child," she sneers at Shinji. "I see you've met the Sixth." The bathroom door slams shut behind her.

"Somehow, I pictured you being taller, Shinji Ikari," says Kaagi as he heads back to the living room.

"Wha-? That was the Sixth Child?" asks Shinji, now alone in the kitchen.

"Yep," says Asuka through the door, "and he's American."

"He didn't look American," says Shinji, edging closer to the bathroom to hear her better.

"Well, he grew up there, but his parents are Japanese," she says. Then she adds, screaming, "And get the hell away from the door! Do you actually want to listen to what I'm doing in here, you freak?"

At the front door, Misato contemplates how to respond to the person ringing the bell. Behind her, Kaagi and Toji pass each other on their way to the living room and kitchen respectively. Finally, she opens the door, smiling sweetly.

"I'm sorry," she says, "there's been a mistake. No one here ordered a pizza."

"That's not good. I already paid for it," says Yoshi, looking sadly down at the box in his hands. "I ran into the delivery guy on my way up."

"Oh, Yoshi! I was… uh… just kidding! Ha-ha."

"Um, excuse me, Misato, but do you know where Toji is?" asks Hikari, squeezing past Yoshi into the apartment. She's short of breath and sweating a bit. Misato opens her mouth to answer just as Toji walks in front of her toward the living room. Hikari follows him, adding, "Thank you, Misato!"

"What's your problem?" Asuka asks Shinji after leaving the bathroom.

_Toji came in here to see me but I couldn't talk to him, _Shinji thinks. _I couldn't even look at him._

But he doesn't tell Asuka that, because he can't talk to, or look at, her, either. He's glad when her momentum carries her past him, out of the kitchen.

"I got you a present," says Hikari, quietly, as she catches up with Toji. She wants to tell him how she wishes he would put a picture of her in it, and, if he doesn't, that she'll probably up and die. Instead, she says, "It's a picture frame."

"Thanks, Class Rep," Toji tells her. Then, he pulls down his collar to show off a necklace of seashells. "And check out what Rei got me."

"Rei… got you a gift?" she asks. To anyone more observant than Toji, Hikari looks as though she's just been slapped. She excuses herself and runs headlong into Asuka.

"Hey, Hikari," she says. "I didn't think you were going to make it."

"I'm late because I was picking out a gift for Toji," she explains. "But Rei got him one first!"

"Don't worry about that," says Asuka consolingly. "She's just playing "Miss Goody-goody suck-up." Nobody else even bothered getting him anything."

"I'm recording the whole party for posterity," Kensuke chimes in, eavesdropping. "That's my gift to Toji."

"Yeah, this is sure one for the ages," mocks Asuka.

"Dinner's ready!" declares Misato, beaming and brandishing a pizza box.

Shinji hears her from the kitchen, but makes no move to join the others at the table in the living room. Pen-pen's personal refrigerator opens and he waddles out, pausing briefly at Shinji's feet to give a plaintive squawk, before leaving the room. Yoshi enters shortly after.

"Hey, Shinji," he says. "There's no pizza in here."

"I'm not coming out," Shinji tells him. "I can't face them. Not after everything I've done."

"Yeah, saving the city about thirteen times is pretty embarrassing."

"I'm not talking about that!"

"Well, nobody's talking about anything else. Whatever mistakes you've made, those people out there are still your friends. All the pilots, even the mouthy red-head, and the Class Rep and the budding director."

"All the pilots… so, Rei's here, too? Do you…," he begins, then whispers, "do you know what she is?"

"Yes, I do," says Yoshi. "She's a kid, just like you. Look, Shinji, I'll make you a deal. Just come out and have some pizza. You don't have to talk to anybody. But if they talk to you, please do them the courtesy of listening. If things get too uncomfortable, it's your choice to stay or go."

Shinji agonizes and Yoshi waits patiently.

"I can't," Shinji says.

"You can. The question is: will you?" says Yoshi. And he stays.

Shinji slams his fist down on the counter. And he goes.

Yoshi smiles and follows.

Slowly, cautiously, Shinji approaches the living room. Just before he enters, he hears Misato thanking Hikari for watching Pen-pen during the reconstruction. And once he does enter, what happens surprises him. No one stops talking. No one stares. They just carry on, eating and laughing.

He sits down, and lets himself be swept away. For tonight, maybe he can ignore his pain. Like magic, everything can be like it was. Toji and Kensuke are his friends again. Asuka grouses, Hikari frets, and Misato gets ridiculously drunk. Shinji can forget his past mistakes and stop worrying about his visions of the future. Only the "now" needs to matter to him. For a little while, at least.

The party continues for a few more hours, until the adults decide that the children have stayed up late enough. The guests slowly shuffle out, and Shinji makes his way to his room. But the room is no longer only his.

Misato had blurted it out after two or three beers, but Shinji still wasn't sufficiently prepared to face the reality of it. Kaagi is here. He's trying to find room for his things among Shinji's, and his sleeping bag is laid out on the floor next to the bed. There's palpable discomfort on both their parts. Neither boy had talked much to the other at the party, and Kaagi is as much to blame for this, because he talked mostly to Rei, as Shinji is, because he avoided her.

After lying down, they don't sleep easily, either. Shinji can tell that Kaagi wants to say something, and he wants to tell him not to.

_Please just go to sleep,_ he thinks. _I don't want to talk. I'm not ready. Just go to sleep._

"Shinji," says Kaagi, "can I ask you something?"

_No!_ Shinji thinks. _I don't want you to get to know me. I don't want to get to know you. I'm not your friend, and I don't want to be. I'm just not ready, dammit! Can't you understand?_

"Um… I guess," says Shinji.

"Well… um… do you know if… if Rei's seeing anyone? Like, dating?"

"Oh," says Shinji, caught off guard. "I… I don't know." He pauses, then adds, "I think so."

"Oh," says Kaagi. He sighs, then rolls over and says nothing else.

For the rest of the night, until he falls asleep, Shinji wonders, _Why did I lie?_

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In a darkened room, two figures stand silhouetted in the soft glow of instrument panels.

"Did you get my message about this morning's readings?" asks one.

"Of course," says the other. "There was a sharp upward spike on the psychometric scale, but it leveled off within expected parameters. Noteworthy, but what's the relevance?"

"Well, we just had another one. Much higher than the first."

"Has it leveled off?"

"As far as I can tell, yes. But get this: it's leveled off well above the first spike. Do you know what that means?"

The reply comes with just a hint of glee, "It's awake."

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The rain from the afternoon has led to a colder evening than usual. Puddles still dot the uneven cement walkways of Rei's apartment building. She stares into one now, studying her distorted reflection. She's wearing Kaagi's jacket, because he insisted she take it for the walk home. And, to her eyes, she looks different.

It's not just the jacket, though. Confusion shadows her face where only certainty used to reside. She doesn't understand herself. Not why she was first compelled to stay at the party, nor why she later felt reluctance to leave. But the murky water holds no answers.

So, she finally enters the unlocked door of #402. In her bedroom, she takes off the jacket and places it on her dresser, next to a pair of cracked glasses. In those glasses, she sees the reflection of movement behind her.

She turns and discovers she is not alone. Her heartbeat quickens, almost painfully. Yet all over she feels cold and numb. She gulps air, having momentarily forgotten to breathe. Something inside her tells her to scream, but she can't.

_Is this fear?_ she wonders.

"Yes, it is," says Kaworu, smiling.

To Be Continued…

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Next Episode Preview:

The 17th Angel has returned. Can more be far behind? Rei struggles to discover the course of her destiny as she battles Kaworu for dominion over her soul. Meanwhile, Shinji, Misato, Asuka, and Kaagi must battle each other for equal bathroom time! Life and Death walk side by side, never meeting. All in our next episode: "(R)evolving Door".


	3. Episode 2, part 1

**Evangelion: New Testament**

Episode: 2

"(R)evolving Door"

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With a yawn and a stretch, Shinji Ikari greets a new morning. For a change, he slept peacefully, free from the nightmares. But he still doesn't feel well-rested. He untangles himself from mussed sheets and inches across the mattress to his bedside table. Reaching to shut off his alarm clock, he discovers that it's 3am, and it wasn't the alarm that woke him. It was the noise that still reverberates throughout the room.

The room is dark, and Shinji's eyes still hold some sleep residue, so he can't immediately determine its source. The sound itself is something akin to the sound of a penguin dry-heaving. And Shinji would know, because of the time that Pen-pen had eaten some long-forgotten leftovers from the back of the fridge.

Groggily, Shinji stumbles out of bed to investigate. He takes two steps before slamming his foot into something soft. Shinji grunts in pain as the noise gets louder, then stops abruptly. Another grunt of pain soon follows.

"Ow," says Kaagi, equally groggy. "What was that for?" Shinji stares down at the dim outline of the Sixth Child, wrapped in his sleeping bag on the floor.

"You were snoring," he says.

"And you kicked me because I was snoring?" Kaagi asks. He's so angry that he's nearly yelling.

"No!" Shinji says defensively. "The noise woke me up, and I got up to see what it was. I just forgot you were down there."

"Well why didn't you say that in the first place? Are you trying to piss me off, or what?"

"No," says Shinji.

_But I was, _he realizes. _I wanted you to get mad, then feel bad about it after I explained myself... but you didn't._

"What time is it anyway?" Kaagi continues hurriedly. He is angry at himself for snapping at Shinji, but is also in no mood to apologize. Instead, he tries to change the subject.

"It's, uh… 3," says Shinji. "3am." He slowly lowers himself back into his bed.

_I still don't know how to act around other people, _he thinks.

"First day of school tomorrow," says Kaagi, yawning. "We'd better try to get some more sleep. So… g'night, okay?"

"Yeah," Shinji says as he closes his eyes.

Four hours later, Asuka is using her first waking minutes trying to find a clean, unworn school uniform. She'd inadvertently spent the whole evening in the one she'd laid out for today. After answering the door when Kaagi and Rei had come calling, she'd never gone back and gotten changed. For reasons she can't articulate, she didn't want to leave the two of them alone. Then, when more students had arrived, she'd been teased about having the same fashion sense as Rei. After that, she painted herself into a corner with an off-the-cuff lie about Shinji messing up the laundry.

Once she locates a change of clothes, Asuka makes her way down the hall to the bathroom. Shinji's door is closed. She knows his alarm wouldn't have gone off yet. Misato's door is also closed, but the Major is already well into her morning routine. Asuka would guess that she's hit the "snooze" feature on her alarm clock about three times by now. Upon reaching the bathroom door, Asuka is surprised to find it closed as well.

"Pen-pen?" she asks quietly. She can tell that the light is on, but she can also hear a sound from within. Putting her ear to the door, she can hear it better. It's slightly melodious, and, to her, completely incomprehensible.

"There's a sign on the wall, but she wants to be sure, 'cause you know sometimes words have two meanings," sings Kaagi in English. "In a tree by the brook, there's a songbird who sings, sometimes all of our thoughts are misgiven…."

"Is he singing?" says a voice from behind her. Asuka shrieks in surprise, turning to find only a bleary-eyed Shinji. Somewhere else in the apartment, an alarm goes off briefly, then is silenced.

"And it makes me wonder…," continues Kaagi.

"What are you doing up?" growls Asuka at Shinji. "I know you set your alarm for 7:30." Before his tired brain can construct an answer, she continues, "Oh, well. It doesn't matter. I was here first, so I'm using the bathroom next."

"Hey, guys," calls Kaagi, hearing them through the door, "I got up early and made our lunches. They're in the kitchen. The recipe was for four, so there's an extra one for Rei."

"I've been up since 3," says Shinji, answering Asuka late. She just rolls her eyes at him, and goes to the kitchen to retrieve her food. Upon her return, she runs into Kaagi in his bathrobe.

"So much for the "lazy American" stereotype, huh?" he asks her, pointing to the lunch in her hands. Over his shoulder, she sees the bathroom door close behind Shinji. To Kaagi's bewilderment, Asuka just shoots him an angry look, then pushes past him to stand facing the door, quietly fuming.

By 8 o'clock, the three of them have left on their way to school. Somewhere in the apartment, an alarm goes off briefly, then is silenced. This time, it's followed by a faint slapping sound, as if someone were grabbing for an alarm clock, perhaps to pull it closer for a better look. An all too brief moment of silence follows.

"Oh… damn it."

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Later, at NERV headquarters in the Geo-front, an elevator door opens and Major Misato Katsuragi steps unsteadily out. She's not wearing her red jacket, having spilled one of her two cups of coffee down the front of it. She'd bought that cup after the first one had toppled during a particularly fast turn. Misato is also sporting a large pair of mirrored sunglasses, hoping to block the harsh, artificial light of the test-lab and to hide the puffy redness of her eyes.

_This is great, _she thinks sarcastically. _I'm late, I'm hung-over, and I'm supposed to meet Ritsuko's replacement today. When did I turn into an old person? I only had about four… maybe five beers. And I didn't even throw up…. Of course, given how I'm feeling, it might have been better if I had. Ow… hurts to think… better stop._

Like a tightrope walker, she uses her arms for balance as she walks carefully forward on her high heels. Just ahead, a bearded man with his back to her studies a clipboard intently. Beyond him, Misato can see one of the new Evangelions through the observation window. The focus of her vision wobbles between the foreground and background, making her dizzy, but she manages to stay upright. She tries to ignore the pounding in her head as she forces her mouth into a half-hearted smile.

"Hello," she says, approaching the bearded man. "You must be Dr. Kaiu, the new Head of the Technology Department." He eyes her skeptically as she nearly falls, trying to stop walking while bowing to him at the same time.

"Major Katsuragi," he acknowledges, bowing as well. He pauses for a moment as he considers his response. "Actually, Major, I'm not Dr. Kaiu. I am Dr. Nishizono and I've been employed by NERV since it was Gehirn. I've worked with both Dr. Akagi and her mother. You and I actually spoke once, on the phone, about three months ago. It's a pleasure to meet you… in person."

"Oh!" laughs Misato as she turns bright red. "I'm so sorry." Nishizono nods politely, without smiling, and then returns to his work.

Slowly, so as not to exacerbate her headache, Misato surveys the rest of the lab. After a fair amount of searching, she spies a familiar face coming toward her. It's Yoshi, holding two mugs of coffee. He offers her one, and she quickly accepts.

"Great party last night," he says. All she can do is nod as she gulps down her coffee. He stands there, smiling at her, before continuing.

"Dr. Nishizono said you were looking for me," he tells her. Misato turns an even brighter shade of red as she peers over her sunglasses at Yoshi's I.D. badge.

_Dr. Yoshi Kaiu, _she reads to herself. _Oh…damn it!_

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In room 2-A at Tokyo-3 Junior High, class is proceeding more or less as usual. The teacher drones on about the environmental repercussions of Second Impact. The students all do their best to listen. But, after being gone for seven weeks, most are finding it to be a harder task than before.

Even Rei is having uncharacteristic difficulty paying attention. What troubles her, however, goes far deeper than prolonged absence. It's the encounter of the previous evening that weighs so heavily upon her. She'd prefer to forget that event, but it keeps replaying in her mind….

"I do not understand why it is that you fear me," Kaworu said to her. He stood partially in the moonlight that shone through her window, looking exactly as he had the first and last times she'd seen him, down in the bowels of NERV. He had the same wise, sad eyes and the same knowing grin. It was dark in her bedroom, but she had no doubt it was him.

Once the initial shock of seeing him in her apartment had worn off, Rei stood more resolute. Still, a feeling lingered within her that she could only assume was fear. And, despite her defiant stance, she knew Kaworu could tell.

"I saw you die," she stated. It was as much an explanation of her feeling as it was a challenge to his presence. But Kaworu, ever non-combative, only took it as the former.

"No, that isn't it," he said thoughtfully. He closed his eyes for a moment, and Rei thought of running away. Then, they snapped open once more, boring into her and rooting her to the spot. "Yes… I see it now. You fear me because we are the same."

"We are not the same," she whispered. His ensuing laughter was light and friendly, but it made Rei shiver.

"You love the Lilim, and that is good. But you love them so well that you deny what you are. You are not one of them."

"I'm not like you," she said, daring to raise her voice. In response, he only cocked his head.

"You love Shinji, as I do," he said. Kaworu's naked honesty shook her.

"I love…?" she started. She wondered how he could be so sure, when she herself didn't even know what that emotion felt like.

"When the light of your soul touched mine," he explained, without her asking.

"The light of my soul?" Rei asked. She knew the words held meaning, but she couldn't grasp it.

"What the Lilim call the "A.T. Field". In the chamber where Lilith sleeps, mine burned brighter than ever before. But then yours, just as bright, touched mine."

"I… don't… remember," she gasped. But she did remember, the shimmering octagons of Kaworu's A.T. Field, pushing back everything. Light, sound, space, and time were cast aside. She had felt it, just like she used to feel it in her Eva. But she didn't have an Eva then, and she still managed to push back.

"No, you remember… we are the same."

"I am not an Angel!" she yelled at him in her quiet apartment. She'd never yelled before. It scared her to think that she needed to yell, to try to assert the truth of what she'd said.

"You are not ready," he said sadly, backing away from her into the shadows. "Neither is Shinji. But I am preparing him for his destiny, just as I'd hoped to prepare you."

"You've visited Shinji?" Rei asked.

"No, not like this," Kaworu admitted. "It would be too… painful. But as he sleeps, I have shown him a vision of the future. The day foretold is come and gone, but what should have come to pass may still. My former masters think the prophecies have failed them, but it was they who failed the prophecies."

Rei fell against her dresser as Kaworu finished speaking. She couldn't balance, and felt as though the room was spinning. Eventually, she lowered herself to the floor and her equilibrium slowly returned. By then, Kaworu was gone….

The dismissal bell sounds for lunch, and Rei's attention is jarringly returned to the present. Over at Kaagi's desk, Shinji and Asuka collect their food from him. Kaagi sees Rei looking in their direction and smiles, but she doesn't notice. She's only looking at Shinji.

"Well…," says Kaagi with careful timing as Rei begins to approach, "I seem… to have an extra meal here."

"I'll take it," says Toji with unabashed lust.

"No!" Kaagi and Hikari exclaim in unison.

"Shinji, may I speak with you?" asks Rei. Her interruption supersedes further protests from Kaagi or Hikari. Toji only hesitates a moment before taking the lunch anyway.

"Um… sure," Shinji replies. He feels Kaagi staring fiercely at him as he follows Rei out of the classroom. Hikari, likewise, stares fiercely at Rei as she leads him. Both Kaagi and Hikari catch each other glaring at the departing pair and quickly look at the floor in embarrassment. The other students disperse shortly after, until only the two of them remain.

"Hey, Hikari," says Kaagi, rising from his seat. "I'd like to ask you something."

"That's what I'm here for," she says as cheerily as she can, while throwing a brightly wrapped meal into the garbage.

"Well, it's not really that kind of…," he trails off as he sees her face start to fall. "Look, I just want to know if there's anything going on between Shinji and Rei. If you know, that is."

"You really like her, don't you?" she asks. She seems slightly sad, which does not encourage him. Kaagi doesn't even respond, but she can see the answer in his eyes. She chooses her next words carefully.

"No," she says. "I'm pretty sure there's nothing between Rei and Shinji, or Rei and anyone. But… I'm also pretty sure that she's got her eye on Toji. I'm sorry."

"Suzuhara?" says Kaagi. "Okay… now I'm really confused."

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"I've got it all figured out, you know," says Toji confidently. He and Kensuke sit eating by the railing overlooking the schoolyard. From their vantage point, they can see most of their classmates, including Rei and Shinji, sharing a bench but not yet speaking.

"Mmm-hmm," says Kensuke, only half-listening.

"I mean, nothing's changed since I've been gone," continues Toji undeterred, "except for the new kid showing up. But he's more obvious than anyone."

"So you figured out what exactly?" asks Kensuke, slowly catching up, but gaining little interest.

"Well, like I said, the new kid obviously likes Rei."

"Obviously."

"And I feel bad for him. Because Rei's always had kind of a thing for Shinji." Toji points them out, still sitting, still not talking.

"Uh-huh," says Kensuke, still more intent on eating.

"And then there's Shinji and Asuka. They've still got it bad for each other. You know how mad they get when we call them "The Newlyweds"? It wouldn't bug 'em so much if there weren't some feelings there."

"So, are you saying there's no chance for that "thing" Rei's got for Shinji, then?"

"Hey, I dunno. Ikari's got his head in the sand when it comes to girls. There're two out there that really like him. But he's gotta figure it all out, first."

"Like you?"

"Yeah."

"So… what about Hikari?"

"What about her?" asks Toji, truly mystified. Kensuke just rolls his eyes.

"Never mind," he says. He looks down again at Rei and Shinji's bench, wondering how blissful it must be to sit next to someone who isn't talking. Shinji, on the other hand, is being torn in two by discomfort and curiosity as he endures Rei's silence.

"I… apologize," she says at last. "I had thought it would be easier than this to talk to you. Like it is…."

"Like it is with my father?" Shinji guesses.

"Yes," she admits. Then she frowns, a pained look crossing her face. "And yet… I can't talk to him. Not about this."

"What is it?" asks Shinji. But he's not sure he wants to know. He's already heard too much, and seen too much, about Rei. Just by being around her, his mind takes him unwillingly back to his visit to the Room of Gaf. He can barely look at her without remembering bodies, live bodies, dismembered before his eyes… bodies that were all Rei.

"I saw Kaworu," she tells him.

"What?" he says, almost choking on the word.

"Last night," she continues, "in my apartment…"

"What are you talking about?" Shinji yells. He's gone in a heartbeat from shocked to furious. Rei, of all people, has just torn into his freshest, deepest wound. He can't hold back the anguish and guilt as they come pouring out.

"He told me-"

"Stop it!" Shinji interrupts, still yelling. He's standing now, too. Rei looks up at him with only an inkling of what her words must be making him feel. But she can't truly understand. Not like Kaworu would have.

"Please," she says. "It's true."

"No! Kaworu's dead!" His yelling falters as his voice cracks. Tears come with the memories of Kaworu's love, and betrayal, and death. The only thing that can overcome Shinji's sadness is an even greater anger, which he directs at Rei.

"Why are you doing this to me?" he screams at her. With his frustration vented, he stumbles away, still reeling from the flood of emotion.

"I saw it all," says Kaagi, seconds later, as he runs up to Rei. "Are you okay?"

"Yes," she answers. Her gaze doesn't meet his, making her appear untruthful. She's actually just distracted, busy wondering if there was anything she could have done differently to prevent Shinji's reaction. But whether he believes her or not, Kaagi's already made up his mind about what to do. Rei feels his glasses being placed carefully in her hand.

"Can you hold these? I don't want them getting broken," he says. Then, he stalks purposefully off after Shinji.

_Broken? _she thinks. _Is he going to fight Shinji?_

"Kaagi, please wait," she calls to him. It's the second time she's pled in a very few seconds. She can't remember ever having used the word before, and it gives her an uncomfortable feeling of helplessness. But her words do reach him. The sound of her voice crumbles his resolve, and he stops.

_What am I doing?_ he asks himself. _Sure, I've had a couple of reasons to want to fight Shinji. But they're just selfish, jealous ones. Him blowing up at Rei is no good reason; it's just a handy excuse. And besides, beating him up wouldn't impress her… at least, I hope it wouldn't. I couldn't like a girl that would be impressed by something like that._

Kaagi turns to look at her. He walks back, and sits down beside her. She's turning his glasses over and over again in her hands.

_No,_ he thinks. _I know that wouldn't impress her._

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

That night, Shinji and Kaagi share the room for the second time. They've just lied down, and the lights are off. Shinji is wishing he'd remembered to bring his Walkman into bed with him, because, once again, he's fairly certain that Kaagi is about to say something. Soon, there is a deep draw of breath from the vicinity of the floor.

"Look, Shinji," Kaagi begins, "I'm sure we've both rubbed each other the wrong way over the last couple of days. But if we're going to live and work together, I think we should try to be friends. So… how about you, me, Toji, and Kensuke all eat together at lunch tomorrow?"

"We can't tomorrow," Shinji reminds him, showing no disappointment. "Misato said we'll be at NERV all day, running tests. At least, Rei, Toji, and I will be. You and Asuka are going to Matsushiro."

"I know that," Kaagi says with a sigh. "I said "tomorrow," but I meant our next day at school."

"Sure… whatever," Shinji says, noncommittal.

_Why can't Kaagi just find his own friends? _he thinks. _What does he need mine for? I don't even know if Toji is still my friend or not. Either way, I don't have that many._

"Do you know that you've got a good friend in Rei?" Kaagi asks him, as if reading his thoughts. Shinji wonders if he's so transparent that Kaagi really can tell what he's thinking. With an increasingly resentful edge to his voice, Kaagi continues.

"I saw the two of you talking today. After you stormed off, I sat down with her. And do you know what she said to me? "Don't be angry with Shinji," she said. "It's my fault that he yelled. I said something to him that I shouldn't have." I just thought you should know that."

_It would be so easy to hate him, _they both think.

"Well, I know that you want to be more than friends with Rei," says Shinji, trying to put Kaagi on the defensive for a change.

"Yeah, like you don't feel that way about, oh, I don't know… Asuka?" teases Kaagi. Walking by in the hall, Asuka overhears her name and stops to listen in.

"What makes you think I want Asuka?" asks Shinji, on the defensive despite his efforts.

"Well, she's a bold, intelligent, independent young woman," Kaagi begins with exaggerated seriousness. "She's got strong opinions that she's not afraid to share. And, since you have no white cane, I can assume you've noticed that she's incredibly hot. Come on, Shinji! You should have heard how jealous you sounded when you reminded me I was going to Matsushiro with her. I used to think you liked Rei, but I guess I was wrong!"

"I used to think you did, too," says Shinji, perplexed by Kaagi's glowing compliments for Asuka.

"Shinji Ikari!" he says, laughing. "Was that your very first joke?"

Kaagi laughs a while longer. Shinji just lies there, confused. But Asuka, in the hall, begins to wonder if she shouldn't re-evaluate her opinion of Kaagi.

"Seriously, though," says Kaagi, "I really do like Rei." Asuka decides to stop listening at this turn of the conversation, but she doesn't stop wondering.

"You see, Shinji," Kaagi continues, "most of what I just said about Asuka is true about Rei, too. Intelligent, independent… sure, she's a lot shier. But once you get her talking, her opinions are just as brutally honest as Asuka's. And I'm dying to see Rei in a plug-suit!" Kaagi bites his lower lip, grinning at the thought of it.

"I don't understand you," Shinji admits. What he won't admit is that he still isn't sure which girl he likes, if either, and he's very curious how Kaagi settled so quickly on Rei. He waits a long time for Kaagi to say more. Eventually, the sound of snoring fills the room.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The next morning, Asuka sits next to Kaagi in the back of Misato's car, drying her hair with a towel. Minutes ago, they'd dropped Shinji off at a ground-level entrance to NERV HQ. Now, the three of them are speeding down the road toward the Secondary Test Facility at Matsushiro. Kaagi is lying back in his seat with his eyes closed and his glasses in his shirt pocket, singing "Only the Good Die Young".

"Can you get him to stop that, Misato?" asks Asuka, with extra bitterness over being last in the bathroom again today.

"Well," interjects Misato politely, "I would like to know a little more about you, Kaagi. I've been really busy the last couple of days, and I haven't had time to read your file."

"Oh, I've seen it," he tells her. "It's blank, except for my birth date and current vitals."

_That's odd, _thinks Misato. _Only Rei and Kaworu's files were like that…_

"Pretty boring life story, though," he adds, stymieing further contemplation. "I was born in Japan, but moved to America. I was raised in Cleveland, Ohio, to be specific, home of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. I only found out I was the Sixth Child about a month ago. They had me at First Branch, running activation tests and combat simulations with Units 05, 06, and 07, right up until I got shipped over here."

_It's weird, _thinks Asuka, _but he doesn't seem like such a dork when he's not singing or wearing his glasses._

"So which Eva is yours?" she asks him.

"Well, I've only got three more payments to go on Unit-06."

_Or when he's making dumb jokes, _she adds to herself.

"You know what I mean," she says. Her reply comes out sounding more coy than she'd meant it to. She doesn't want him to think that she's flirting, so she tries to think of a way to defuse the situation.

"I have gotten my best synch ratios with Unit-06," he begins, "so-"

"By the way," Asuka interrupts rudely, "I heard you and Shinji talking last night. Just so you know, I'd never even think of going out with either one of you."

"Okay," says Kaagi, smiling but not opening his eyes. "You and I wouldn't work, anyway. That's for sure."

"Oh yeah? Why not?" Asuka asks, though she's not sure why she cares.

"We're too similar," he says nonchalantly. "Strong personalities. You deserve someone with a lot more patience than I've got."

Asuka doesn't know if she should feel insulted by the implication that she's hard to deal with or flattered that he'd admit she deserves better than him. Regardless, she chooses to end their verbal sparring match and begins drying her hair more vigorously to convey her frustration.

"I'm not sure why you're bothering," Kaagi adds. "We're going to be doused in LCL shortly." Immediately, he is hit in the face by a damp towel, thrown from point-blank range. Watching them in the rear-view mirror, Misato finds herself smiling sincerely, for the first time in a while.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

In the center of a seemingly bare room, Gendo Ikari sits, waiting. He stares straight ahead through his orange-tinted glasses. Time passes, but he never lets his gaze waver in the slightest. He knows he's being watched.

Slowly, black monoliths appear in the air around him until he is surrounded. Each bears a different number, but they all have the same text. SEELE, Sound Only. SEELE 01 floats directly across from him. The monoliths silently await Ikari's words. It was he, not they, who called for this meeting.

"I know what the boy is," he says finally. "Why did you send him to me?"

"Don't you know that as well?" asks 04 sarcastically.

"He is accustomed to having all the answers," says 02.

"Have you possessed him this whole time?" asks Ikari flatly, ignoring their taunts.

"No," says 01. "He was quite well hidden."

"But your former associate, Ritsuko Akagi, knew where he was," says 03.

"It was she who revealed his location, when you sent her to us instead of Rei Ayanami," confirms 01.

"Does it upset you that she would keep such a thing from you?" asks 05.

"Even before she began to hate you?" continues 04.

"How she hated you, at the end," finishes 01, almost sadly.

"And you used that hate against me, to your advantage," says Ikari, betraying no emotion.

"We did," admits 01.

"But that is in the past," says 08.

"We give you the boy, now, as a peace offering," continues 01. "No longer should you be at odds with this committee. The prophecies have failed us, and the Dead Sea Scrolls are useless. The day of Reckoning is past, but we know that the threat continues."

"The 18th Angel approaches," says 04.

"And what do you expect of me?" Ikari asks.

"Continue to defend humanity from the Angels, as you have always done," says 01. "But, now that you have the boy, we would like a boon from you… as a show of good faith on your part…"

_Of course, _thinks Ikari.

"We will require Unit-07, and two pilots of your choosing, for a special mission," says 06.

"To retrieve the Lance of Longinus," finishes 01.

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Episode Midpoint


	4. Episode 2, part 2

**Evangelion: New Testament**

Episode: 2 (part 2)

"(R)evolving Door"

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Unit-01's entry plug has been docked for several minutes now. Finally, the hatch opens, and Shinji falls out, but there's someone there to catch him. He can't remember ever having such a hard time synching with his Eva. It felt more like he was fighting with it. But, he hadn't been in Unit-01 since his fight with Kaworu, and he figures that probably has something to do with it.

"Whoa," says Yoshi, who had caught him, "you okay there?"

"I… I'll be fine," Shinji says. His attempt at bravado is weak and transparent.

"Just have a seat for a minute," urges Yoshi. "I wanted to talk with you, anyway." Shinji complies, and is glad to be resting, but he still worries about what Yoshi may have to say.

"You had a good run today, Shinji," he continues, "but I could tell it was rough on you. This is pretty blunt of me to ask, but is everything all right at home?"

"I'm just tired," Shinji lies. The nightmare was actually disturbing his sleep less and less. He was remembering less of it, too, except the part with Misato… kissing Misato.

"How are things between you and the Major?" Yoshi asks, and Shinji flushes red.

"We're okay," Shinji says, but Yoshi's obviously not satisfied with that answer. "At least… we are now. We didn't talk for a while, after… after Kaworu died. Misato kept saying how he deserved to die. She was so cruel, it really scared me. I didn't have anyone to talk to, then. My friends were gone. Asuka was in a coma. And Rei… Rei still scares me."

"Why?"

"You have Dr. Akagi's old job… I thought you knew about Rei."

"Shinji, Dr. Akagi's involvement with the project went a lot deeper than just being Head of the Tech Department. But if Rei's got some dark secret, I'd rather she be the one to tell me, if she even wants me to know it. And, speaking of secrets…," (_Okay_, thinks Yoshi, _either I gain his trust here or shame him into never talking to me again_.) "…you know that you five pilots are invaluable to the project, right?"

"Uh… yeah."

"So… if one of you were in, say… a coma, we'd be very concerned."

"Uh-huh?"

"So concerned that we'd… monitor the room. On video. And keep the tapes," he finishes. Shinji has turned from red to pale. "There was a tape of you visiting Asuka, but that one's gone now. I "lost" it, so no one's ever going to see it."

_Except the six or so security guards I caught re-screening and laughing at it,_ he thinks, _but I won't mention that._

"Thank you," says Shinji, equally embarrassed and relieved.

"So, why don't you and Toji take a break?" Yoshi says, moving quickly off the previous subject. "I've still got more work to do with Rei. Her new Eva has a lot more hardware than her old one."

Shinji then notices Toji, standing in the doorway of the plug-boarding room. His dark-blue plug-suit still bears the number 03, as if seeing Toji's face wasn't reminder enough of what had happened. Shinji stands, and they walk silently together to the nearest lounge. They sit down in separate chairs, with nothing to do but listen to the monotonous hum from the vending machines.

"I know it wasn't your fault," Toji says after a while. Shinji keeps staring down at his own feet. "Misato told me that your Eva was stuck on auto-pilot… the "dummy-whatever". And I should know, those things can sure get out of your control sometimes."

Toji smiles at his stab at irony. A thought floats through Shinji's brain, but it's gone before he can grab hold of it. Toji stands, and continues talking.

"Dr. Kaiu says I'm doing well," he tells Shinji, "and you know what? I'm glad! See, I did a lot of thinking while I was gone. And I decided that I was going protect this city from the Angels, no matter what. Because… when they find donors for the transplants my sister needs, and she can leave that damn hospital like I did, I'm gonna make sure she's got a home to come back to."

Shinji watches his friend lean on the front of a snack machine, facing away from him. Toji takes a pair of deep breaths, then suddenly pounds his fist angrily on the glass. Shinji stares, puzzled and scared.

"Damn it!" Toji says. "I'm so hungry… and I don't have any pockets on this suit to keep change in!" He turns back to Shinji, to find Shinji laughing with relief. Toji just shakes his head and laughs along with him.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

At Matsushiro, Maya Ibuki mans a workstation, monitoring Kaagi and Asuka's neural links to their Evas. Outside the observation window, Unit-02 sits idle. Elsewhere, Kaagi sits in a test-plug, half-submerged in red liquid. But Asuka has been directly plugged in. Still, her synch ratio is abysmally low.

Maya was the first technician to volunteer for this assignment, and it wasn't because she's any braver than the others. She was as scared as anyone to come here after what happened during Unit-03's activations test. However, any day she can spend not watching Yoshi do Ritsuko's job is a more pleasant one, in her opinion.

"I guess Dr. Akagi was wrong," Maya says out of the blue. Misato turns her attention from Asuka's readings to the timid tech seated next to her.

"About what, Maya?" she asks.

"About Kaworu being the last Angel," Maya explains despondently. "I mean… we've got a new pilot, and three new Evangelions. If he really was the last one, we wouldn't be doing all this, would we?"

"I don't know, Maya," Misato answers truthfully. "I don't like to think about it."

Inside her Eva, Asuka is getting increasingly more discouraged. Unit-02 still won't synch with her, and she doesn't know why. She's tried to be calm and she's tried to be angry and she's tried everything in between. Nothing's worked.

_I don't understand what's wrong!_ she thinks. _I'm better than this. I know I am! Even Kaagi knows it. He said that I'm independent, intelligent, bold… and it's true. All of it's true!_

She punches the controls in front of her in anger. At the same time, Unit-02 punches the protein wall of the test chamber, sending panels flying. The observation window cracks and everyone dives for cover. Asuka looks out at their frightened faces with an unapologetic smile.

"Oh yeah," she declares with sinister delight, "I'm back!"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The next two days come and go swiftly. Everyone settles back into their old routines, or, in the case of Kaagi and Yoshi, integrates the routines of others. Kaagi's lunch plans with the other boys go forgotten. And Rei keeps forgetting to return his jacket. Too soon, though, the time comes when routine alone will not get them through the day.

"Get up!" Misato shouts into each bedroom. "Get up now!"

In the living room, dawn is barely peeking through the front windows. Kaagi is up and dressed before Shinji or Asuka, and he stands staring at the TV news.

"…urge all citizens to report to their designated shelters," the anchorman continues. "This is not a drill. The government has issued-" Misato tunes out the newsman's warning as she ushers everyone out the door. She can't spare the time to be haunted by Kaagi's look of smug satisfaction as he watched the news, knowing what it meant.

Rei and Toji are already at NERV HQ when Misato arrives with the others. Kaagi races ahead of Shinji to the locker room, but they're all hurrying frantically. Misato enters the elevator to the Command Center, takes a deep breath, and calms herself. When she steps onto the command deck, she is the eye of the storm.

On the main viewscreen, the 18th Angel looms.

It's at least a third taller than an Eva and shaped like an hourglass. Two great bulbs sit one atop the other, connecting in a tapered midsection. The Angel's body is shiny and smooth, like still water. Markings that resemble eyes encircle the upper bulb, and an ivory-colored dome sits on its very top, seemingly made of coral or bone.

Sirens wail as the floor-staff man their stations. Maya, Hyuga, and Aoba all sit before Misato, awaiting orders. Misato watches a secondary screen, waiting for each pilot's entry plug to be inserted until issuing her first command.

"All pilots, prepare for launch," Misato announces over the open communication channel.

"No Major," calls Fuyutsuki from the higher command deck. "The Commander has reinstated the hold on Unit-01. Also, Unit-07 is not to be launched without his direct authorization."

_Is it Unit-07 he's protecting,_ thinks Misato, _or is it Rei?_

Looking pointedly at Hyuga, she draws a hand quickly across her neck. In response, he kills the open com-channel. She then looks up at Ikari, sitting next to the Vice-Commander above her.

"You want me to send my least reliable pilot and two novices up there alone?" she asks loudly. Misato still feels an undercurrent of guilt for talking about Asuka like that, even from beneath the waves of anger she's riding.

"Have the Second Child take point," Ikari answers coldly.

"Hey," Toji radios to Asuka, "my Eva looks just like yours!"

"It does not!" she replies, punching his face on her Heads-Up-Display.

"It really does, except for the color," says Kaagi, popping up on both their HUDs.

"And yours is…" Toji starts, but doesn't finish. It was a while ago, but Toji will never forget. Kaagi's Eva looks just like Unit-03.

"Did we lose the open com-channel?" Shinji asks meekly. Kaagi's equipment is bothering Shinji, too, but it's not the Eva. His plug-suit is black… like Kaworu's was.

"Not anymore," Misato cuts in. She takes another deep breath. "All right, here's the plan…. The Angel is about to pass the Final Defense Line at Gora. The city is almost in fortress mode. I'm sending Units 02, 05, and 06 to intercept. Asuka, you're on point. Are the three of you ready to launch?"

"Affirmative!" Asuka replies.

"Let's do it!" says Kaagi.

"Good to go," adds Toji.

"Okay, launch!" shouts Misato.

Moments after the skyscrapers have finished receding into the ground, three Evas burst forth in their place. Unit-02 stands closest to the Angel. To Asuka's right, about 400 meters away, Unit-06 stands flexing its fingers in anticipation. The same distance to her left, Toji sits in Unit-05. He's not sure what disturbs him more: the Angel in front of him, or Unit-06's uncanny resemblance to Unit-03. Asuka's shrill voice over the com quickly stirs him from his reverie.

"Okay, rookies," she shouts enthusiastically, "time to show you how it's done!" She reaches Unit-02's hand down into empty space. The Eva gropes the air aimlessly until Asuka actually looks where she's reaching. "What the-? Where's my carbide axe?"

"Asuka," Misato radios from the Command Center, "the ordinance towers were destroyed when the city flooded. We haven't had time to rebuild them all." Unit-02's head looks over each of its shoulders in turn.

"My pallet gun and SAM launcher are gone, too?" moans Asuka. She glares at the Angel ahead of her as it glides ever closer. Slowly, her pouting lips spread into a feral grin. "Well, I guess we're gonna have to do this the hard way!"

In a flash, Unit-02's progressive knife is out of its shoulder compartment and in the Eva's hand. The blade extends, and Asuka drops her Evangelion into a ready stance. Units 05 and 06 follow suit, though Toji is a bit slower and less graceful than Kaagi. Asuka takes one quick moment to savor the absence of Shinji and Rei before detailing her plan to the others.

"Kaagi," she says, "you flank it low. Toji? You take the other flank high. I'm going right up the middle! On my mark…"

"Asuka!" yells Misato. "What do you think you're-?"

"3, 2, 1, mark!" Asuka interrupts, screaming over her. Knives held high, the Evas converge on the Angel.

As they close in, its body appears to melt. Strings run down its upper body like dripping wax filmed and sped up tenfold. Then, suddenly, the strings begin braiding together and coming almost completely free of the main body. With its newly formed tentacles, the Angel lashes out at its attackers.

Leading the charge, Asuka receives the brunt of the counterattack. First, her Eva's right arm is gripped. She moves the left to try to free it, but that, too, becomes ensnared. She feels more tentacles wrapping around both legs and the torso, just as another slithers around her Eva's head. In seconds, Unit-02 is totally immobilized. Asuka manhandles the controls in the plug, trying in vain to move. In front of her, she can only see what the Eva sees: nothing but a writhing, black sludge.

Fewer tentacles than the large amount covering Unit-02 are sent to seek out Toji and Kaagi. Still, Unit-05's advance is halted by the onslaught. It takes all of Toji's concentration just to keep himself from becoming entangled as well. He swings his knife wildly back and forth, doing his best to fend off the Angel's appendages. Severed pieces fly wetly all around as red blood showers Unit-05's blue armor.

On the other side of the Angel, Kaagi fares much better. Unit-06 ducks the first barrage, and the Angel's limbs shoot harmlessly through the air. Then, after rearing back, they whip downward, kicking up dirt and gouging huge divots in the ground. But Kaagi's Evangelion has already rolled out from beneath them. From a cat-like crouch, Unit-06 uses its hands and feet to leap, but not at the Angel.

The black and red Eva soars across the sky. As it lands, it brings its knife down in a sweeping arc through the forest of tentacles connecting Asuka's Eva to the Angel. Blood sprays from the flailing stumps onto Unit-06 as the dead arms fall away from Unit-02. Asuka pulls the last of them from her Eva's face, tossing them aside and resuming her charge.

She barrels toward the Angel with Kaagi right behind her. Wounded by Kaagi's bid to free Asuka, the Angel cannot hope to fend them off. Asuka tears through its A.T. Field, stabbing viciously. But, just before her knife penetrates its body, the Angel is gone.

The three pilots stop to look around, finding nothing but each other. Their Evangelions stand motionless. Blood drips from their armor onto the trampled earth as a flock of birds flies overhead, making the only noise on the now-quiet battlefield.

"Hello, Darkness, my old friend," Kaagi sings, breaking the silence.

"Where did it go?" barks Misato, in the control room. The topographical maps on the view screens show the Evas alone in this sector.

"I don't know," admits Hyuga. "It's off the map. I'll expand the search."

"Find it," commands Ikari from above.

"Did you get it?" Toji asks Asuka. She rolls her eyes at his pitifully hopeful face on her HUD.

"No," she says. "It just… disappeared."

"It's still here," says Rei, listening in.

"Sir!" Hyuga calls to Ikari. "I've got something now. Wavelength pattern is blue."

"Where is it?" asks Misato, hunching down to stare over his shoulder.

"It's, uh…," he stutters, distracted by Misato's closeness, "…it's about four miles away. Bearing: 72 degrees southeast of its last location."

"Unit-05," Misato orders, "hold position. Asuka and Kaagi, pursue the Angel to the new coordinates."

"We're on it!" says Kaagi, driving his Eva forward. Units 02 and 06 dash off, leaving Toji alone.

"Thank goodness we replaced most of the umbilical towers," says Misato quietly.

By the time the Evas reach it, a couple of umbilical changes later, the Angel is almost within the city limits. It's just as they'd found it before, carving an unrelenting path toward the center of Tokyo-3. The tentacles have mostly regenerated, swaying around the Angel like seaweed in a slow current.

Asuka and Kaagi rush at it, hoping to give it no chance to react. It does appear caught off guard, and the two pilots cut their way through the mass of arms faster than before. Still, when the time comes to strike the body, Asuka thrusts her knife forward and Kaagi slashes diagonally… both through empty space. They've managed only to strike dynamic but pointless poses.

"Find it again," Misato says wearily. Hyuga complies, sweating all the while. The maps on the control room screens spin, shift, and zoom out.

"Got it, Major," Hyuga says after a moment. "It's traveled only a slightly shorter distance than last time. New bearing: 36 degrees southwest. It's put itself in the bay."

"You'll want to send Unit-06," says Yoshi, joining them on the command deck.

"Why?" Asuka and Misato ask together, one more annoyed than the other.

"Unit-02 still has the B-Type equipment," he says. "Unit-06 is outfitted with C-Type. It can function under water, and the other can't. Simple as that."

"Alright," concedes Misato. "Asuka, hold position. Kaagi, pursue."

Alone, Kaagi makes his way to the new coordinates. He finds the Angel hovering on top of the water, still making for the city. Unit-06 jumps forward, disappearing beneath the waves. Only its umbilical remains visible, snaking into the water after it.

The Command Center watches and waits. Then, in the blink of an eye, the Angel is gone and Kaagi's progressive knife is breaking the water's surface where it stood. Unit-06 looks around, then punches the water in disappointment.

"It's using its A.T. Field to teleport," says Maya. "Somehow, it's folding it in on itself…"

"Got it again, Major," says Hyuga even quicker this time. "Bearing: 36 degrees northwest, now."

"Wait a minute," says Aoba. "36 degrees again? There's gotta be a pattern… Hey, Hyuga, how many "eyes" has that thing got on its upper body?"

"The recon choppers say five," Hyuga tells him.

"I knew it!" he replies. "Each time it moved, it turned 72 degrees, relative to itself, not the map. Look at the landing points! It's circling around the city in a pentagon!"

"Acknowledged," says Misato. She looks up at Fuyutsuki and Ikari. "Since Kaagi's already on his way to the Angel's current location, I propose deploying Unit-07 at the bay site, and Unit-01 at the projected fifth "landing" point."

"Very well, Major," says the Commander begrudgingly. "You may launch the Evas."

Unit-01 emerges from the ground with the city and the morning sun at its back. Shinji locates one of the remaining ordinance towers, and finds a pallet gun within. With its grim stare, Unit-01 looks to the south, as if awaiting the Angel's arrival. Shinji shoulders the gun, and turns on his targeting computer.

In the bay, Unit-07 stands just off shore. Rei knows that if the Angel keeps to its apparent pattern, she's the farthest from harm's way, since it just left this location. Somehow, that knowledge comforts her.

"Do you fear death?" someone asks her. The voice is Kaworu's.

_Yes,_ she thinks._ I am the last. If death comes, there will be nothing after._

"Major, we've lost Rei's com-signal," Hyuga reports desperately.

"Not now!" she breathes. On the map, the blip representing Kaagi's Eva is engaging the Angel. He's using the tentacles like ropes, pulling himself closer and closer to the body. He pulls his knife down through the Angel's arms before swinging up into its torso.

"Some of the Lilim liken death to a door," Kaworu continues. "Life, too, is like a door. In many ways, they are the same door."

As soon as the Angel appears in front of Shinji, he opens fire. Shell casings fly from the gun as he blasts off each arm as the Angel forms it. In the middle of his salvo, he holds the gun in just one hand, and draws his knife with the other. The endless stream of bullets cuts him a path to the Angel's body, and he strikes.

"There is something after death, Rei," Kaworu tells her. She realizes his voice isn't coming from the radio. It's coming from behind her.

Toji isn't facing the Angel when it appears, and the tentacles take him from behind. Before they can grab his feet, Toji sends Unit-05 into a backflip. As the Angel's arms pull him down, he aims his knife for the dome on its head. The Angel disappears, and Unit-05 lands hard on the empty ground.

"Mind, body, and soul," says Kaworu, looking all about him. "Only one can travel through the door… in either direction." She's looking at him now, hovering in the plug behind her. She wonders if he was in here, even before she boarded, waiting.

As soon as the Angel's tentacles grab Asuka, she grabs them back. Turning and heaving, Unit-02 uses them to swing the Angel through the air. It slams into a hillside with such force that the arms Asuka is holding tear off. She jumps to stab it, but it's gone.

Rei turns away from Kaworu and gasps, finding the Angel towering in front of her. Its arms reach for her, and she shudders at its cold embrace. Instinctively, she tries to stab it, but it's gone as quickly as it came.

"We can't keep this up, Major," says Aoba worriedly. "The enemy can wait us out. The power grid is on the verge of collapse, because the system wasn't designed for five Evas running at once."

"Rei's com keeps cutting in and out," Hyuga adds.

"I'm going off my umbilical," Kaagi says in response to Aoba's words. He stands away from the Angel, not impeding its progress. "And I have a plan."

"Well, what is it?" asks Asuka impatiently. Unit-06 creeps closer to the Angel, hiding behind whatever cover is available.

"Well, the Angel doesn't seem to be appearing in exactly the same places it left from," he says. "I think that's because it moves around while we're fighting it before it "teleports". So, what if we don't let it?

"It's obviously afraid of the prog knives. So, I say let's throw them at it. As soon as we see it, before it can move, we force it to "jump" again. When it gets back around to me, it should be exactly where it was, and I'll be waiting for it."

"That's too dangerous!" says Misato. "If your Eva and the Angel try to occupy the same space, who knows what could happen?"

"Well, Major," says Kaagi, sighing, "I'll give you ten seconds to come up with a better plan. Otherwise… is everyone else with me?" The other pilots give Kaagi uncertain affirmatives. Unit-06 holds its knife aloft.

"Go for it," Misato whispers with reluctant resignation.

Kaagi throws and the Angel disappears. Unit-06 starts to run, taking its first step toward the Angel's last position. Shinji throws, the Angel disappears, another step is taken. Toji throws, another step taken. Asuka throws, another step. Rei throws, hitting the mark despite Kaworu's distracting presence. One more step…

Kaagi throws Unit-06's arms around the thin middle of the Angel. As he does, the tentacles wrap him over and over. The Angel's A.T. Field can't invert or reform with Kaagi's in the way. Each has caught the other.

The other four Evangelions jettison their umbilicals and run toward the Angel. Asuka and Toji's paths converge, and the two run together.

"Why are you running?" Asuka asks, looking over at her Eva's blue twin. "Shinji and Wonder Girl are a lot closer than we are. They're going to get the kill."

"Well," Toji answers, "sometimes, when Angels die, they blow up, right?"

"Yeah, so?"

"So, I thought we could use our A.T. Fields to keep the blast contained, if we can get close enough in time. Unless you want the city to get wrecked again."

"Uh… no!" Asuka scoffs as she tries to hide her awe over Toji's inspired idea.

"Aaa!" Kaagi cries out in pain, and everyone jumps at the sound. The tentacles around his Eva have begun constricting. Inside his plug, Kaagi can hear the groan of Unit-06's armor buckling under the pressure. Worse still, he can feel it.

"Prepare to sever Kaagi's neural link," orders Misato.

"No!" Kaagi yells in frustration and agony. Tears stream down his face as he struggles to speak. "I'm not letting of this thing until it's dead! Please… just, everybody, hurry up…."

"Damn it," mutters Misato. "He's been off his umbilical longer than anyone. Even if I leave him linked, he's only got another couple of minutes."

"Not so, Major," Yoshi interjects. "Unit-06 has one more minute of battery power than the other Evangelions. We were able to increase it by-"

"That's great," interrupts Misato. "Hold on, Kaagi. You can do this."

He lets out another yelp of pain, and the other pilots try to run faster. Asuka and Toji are still farthest off. Trying to watch where he's going while checking the range on his targeting computer hampers Shinji. Rei just charges on.

"You're still quite far away," Kaworu observes, and Rei tries to ignore him.

"We've lost Rei's com again," reports Hyuga.

"That one may die," continues Kaworu, indicating the mass of tentacles surrounding the Angel and Unit-06. A feeling crawls up from Rei's stomach, tightening her throat and burning her brain. It's not anxiety, or determination, or even fear. She's never felt it before, but she knows its name. It's rage.

"I hate you," she tells Kaworu. Using two progressively taller towers as steps, Unit-07 climbs up, up, and leaps. The shoulder protrusions open, exposing jets that push the Eva even higher. At the apex of the jump, two pointed shafts of metal that look like sword blades extend from Unit-07's back. Then, each shaft fans out into five, and ten separate spires form terrible wings, carrying Rei in a dive straight down at the Angel.

The steel wings fold back into place as Unit-07's feet come crashing down on top of the Angel. One swift punch shatters the bone-like structure on its head, revealing its pulsing, red core. The Angel's arms release Unit-06, and reach upward for Rei's Eva, even as she begins to hammer away at the exposed core. The swaying tentacles, climbing higher, look like snakes on the hunt, giving the Angel the appearance of the Gorgon Medusa. That is, until they strike.

Unit-07 is mummified in seconds, wrapped over and over again until its shape is unrecognizable under the coils upon coils. But just as quickly, its wings deploy again, fanning out and shredding the Angel's arms. Blood splatters the pristine armor of Rei's white Eva, as pieces of the Angel rain down on Unit-06.

Shinji stops in his tracks, mesmerized by the savagery of Rei's blood-soaked Eva. A thought that had escaped him earlier now strikes his brain like lightning. He's seen brutality like this before. When his own Eva tore apart Unit-03. When it was being controlled by the dummy-plug. What Rituko had told him made horrible sense now. Rei is the dummy-system's core.

"You hate me as much as Shinji loves me," Kaworu tells her, sounding pleased.

She punches harder and faster.

"…You perfectly compliment him, because you are his antithesis…"

Rei locks the Eva's fingers together, and brings the fist down hard, onto the core.

"…He is hope and Life…"

The core cracks with each hit. Rei doesn't stop.

"…And you… are Death."

The Angel explodes in a white-hot mushroom cloud. At its edge, Asuka and Toji hold their ground, protecting the city and the new dam. Still, acres of vegetation are incinerated. The air for miles shimmers from the heat. And Rei and Kaagi were at the center of it all.

In the quiet aftermath of the explosion, the only discernable sound is that of the approach of distant helicopters. Evangelion Units 06 and 07 lay sprawled in the blast crater, partially buried in the churned-up soil.

With a mechanical whirring, and the hiss of expelled fluid, Kaagi's entry plug ascends from the back of his Eva. Shortly after, the hatch opens, and he exits following a spill of yellow-orange liquid.

"Rei!" he shouts as soon as his lungs are able. Unit-07's neck is exposed, but its plug is still inserted. Kaagi's hands are shaking as he grabs the vid-phone from Unit-06's shoulder-blade compartment. He dials Rei first, but gets no response. Next, he dials the Command Center.

"Hello, Major? This is Kaagi!" he shouts as the sound of the helicopters draws closer. "I need you to eject Rei's plug. I'm not more than fifty yards away, and if she's hurt, I can help her!"

"Do it," Misato orders Maya.

Inside the plug, Kaworu leans his face close to Rei's ear. She's still shaking from her recent surge of adrenaline. He opens his smiling mouth to speak, but the plug begins to spin before he can. Though attached to nothing, Kaworu remains in place despite the motion. Once it stops, he's still at her ear.

"I envy you, Rei Ayanami," he whispers to her. "You have taken the first steps down the path to our destiny." The hatch opens, seemingly of its own accord, and Kaworu steps out. Rei, in turn, shields her eyes from the intruding daylight, then climbs from her seat to follow him.

Standing on the back of her Eva, Rei's view is quite expansive. But of Kaworu, she sees no trace. She does spy Kaagi sprinting toward her, and she kneels to help him climb onto Unit-07. Once he's up, they help each other to their feet as they're buffeted by the high winds from the helicopters above.

"Are you hurt?" Kaagi asks her, barely audible above the descending aircraft. Rei starts to shake her head, and he's hugging her before she stops. His gentle embrace grows slowly firmer, and suddenly he lifts Rei off her feet, spinning her in a tight circle. After setting her back down, Kaagi thrusts a fist triumphantly into the air and hollers with unbridled joy.

"Ha-ha! We did it!"

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After the battle, Shinji is changing into his street clothes in the boys' locker room. His progress is slowed, however, by repeated attempts to look at the other two boys without being caught. He tries to keep these observations purely clinical, and ignore the inner voice that tells him to be excited by what he sees. It's a voice that feels like Kaworu's hand, grasping his, in the bath area of this very room.

Shinji is most impressed by Toji. His fitness doesn't appear diminished at all by weeks spent in the hospital. He's still a little taller, broader, and more muscled than Shinji. Kaagi, on the other hand, is built just as slightly as Shinji, though he has more body hair than either Shinji or Toji.

Shinji looks quickly away as he sees Kaagi begin to turn in his direction. He hopes Kaagi didn't notice his attention. He can't look back without feeling completely obvious. Shinji nearly jumps a foot when someone's hand slaps his naked shoulder.

"Nice shooting out there!" says Kaagi, apparently oblivious to Shinji's discomfort. "And hey, Toji! That was a great idea, shielding the city like that. We rock, you guys! Seriously."

Toji smiles and gives a "thumbs-up", but the smile doesn't last. Shinji just nods and starts to pull his shirt on. With his head in the shirt, Shinji hears before he sees another person enter the locker room. Once he can see again, he's shocked by the scene before him. His father, Gendo Ikari, stands hovering over Kaagi, while Kaagi himself seems to deliberately ignore the Commander's presence.

"Kaagi Chuda," addresses Gendo. Kaagi doesn't acknowledge his name. He just finishes tying his shoes. Gendo continues, "I wish to commend you on your-"

"Save it," Kaagi says with contempt. He stands and pushes past the Commander in order to exit the room. Gendo seems angered at first, but then he half-grins and grunts with amusement. By the time Shinji has recovered from his shock, his father is also leaving the room.

"Father," Shinji calls. Gendo Ikari leaves without turning back, giving no indication whether Shinji's call went ignored or unheard.

_I hate you, Kaagi!_ Shinji thinks. _I hate you._

Meanwhile, the object of Shinji's hate has tracked down Rei in the hall outside the girls' locker room. Kaagi's palms are sweating and his heart is pounding. He's glad that no one else is around, because the slightest distraction could make him waver, now that he's so close. Before he can say anything, she notices him and walks over.

_She noticed me!_ he thinks as his heart beats even faster. _And she's actually walking over here. I've got to do it now. Stop stalling, stop worrying, and do it._

"Did you wish to speak with me?" she asks.

"Yes!" he blurts out. "I… I want to ask you out… on a date…. Would you like to go out on a date with me?"

Rei looks at him incredulously at first. She can tell that he's unsuccessfully trying to hide his anxiousness. She can see his hands shaking, and his chest heaving with nervous, ragged breaths. Then, she looks at his face. Their eyes meet, and he smiles at her. Memories flash in and out of her mind. First Gendo smiling, then Shinji smiling. Then, a memory of Kaagi smiling, from the first time she met him. Just like he is now.

"Yes," Rei decides. "I'd like that." And she smiles back at him.

To Be Continued…

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Next Episode Preview:

Romance is in the air, but not just for Rei and Kaagi! Many desperate hearts lead their owners down intertwining paths of pain and pleasure. Will they reach what they desire? It takes hard work to get anything worth having…. Next: "Love's Labors/Lost".


	5. Episode 3, part 1

**Evangelion: New Testament**

Episode: 3

"Love's Labors"

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There's a stereo in Shinji and Kaagi's room. Kaagi brought it with him when he moved in. A hand manipulates the controls, searching for a specific song. The hand finds the desired track, and pauses it forty-four seconds in. Kaagi smiles. It's 7:30am.

"Are you awake?" Kaagi asks Shinji.

"Yes," Shinji admits. He wraps a pillow around his head to block his ears.

The room is rocked by a jubilant guitar riff, an instrumental echo of the celebrant chorus. Kaagi nods his head in time with the beat, dancing around as he gathers his toiletries. The music carries him out the door, then down the hall to the bathroom.

"Fly into the rising sun," he sings along. "Faces smiling, everyone. Yeah, she is a whole new tradition. Ow! I feel it in my hea-a-art! My Woman from To-ky-o! She makes me see… My Woman from To-ky-o! She's so good to me…."

Another verse begins as Kaagi starts his morning rituals. Shinji emerges from the bedroom, rubbing his eyes. He joins Asuka, who's already in the hall with her hair wrapped in a towel. They both stare at the bathroom with long, weary faces.

"He's at it again, huh?" Asuka asks glumly.

"Yeah. Third day in a row," Shinji confirms while yawning.

"Well, as long as I get to the bathroom first, I'm not complaining."

"He waits until I'm awake."

"That's polite, I guess."

"Do you understand any of it?"

"I speak German, not English," Asuka disdains.

They don't even recognize the word "Tokyo" because it's sung with too many syllables.

By the time the song is over, Kaagi is back in the bedroom, getting dressed. After taking his own turn in the bathroom, Shinji returns and finds Kaagi examining his cello. Its case is open, and Kaagi is running his fingers gently along its wooden body. Even this slight breach of etiquette makes Shinji furious.

"What are you doing?" Shinji snaps.

"I'm sorry," Kaagi says, carefully closing the case once more. "I guess I'm just a little jealous."

_He's jealous of me?_ Shinji thinks in disbelief.

"I've always wanted to learn to play an instrument," Kaagi explains. "But I was too much of a snob. If I couldn't learn to play on a "Strat", I didn't want to learn at all."

"A Stradivarius?" Shinji gasps in shock.

"Stratocaster," Kaagi corrects him.

They walk together to the kitchen, where they find Asuka standing, dumbfounded.

On the table in the kitchen, four places are set. Each plate has a heaping stack of waffles, with bacon on the side. Fresh fruits are in bowls beside the plates, and milk and orange juice have already been poured into each set of two glasses. Pen-pen sits beside the table, staring at the waffles in his bowl.

"Good morning!" announces Misato. In addition to her usual attire, she's wearing a blue, ruffled apron and an intractable grin. In her right hand she wields a spatula, though somewhat clumsily, because she has an oven mitt on the same hand.

Kaagi immediately sits down at the table, but Shinji and Asuka are more hesitant. After suffering their looks of skepticism as long as possible, Misato grimaces and points commandingly at their seats. Dutifully, they sit.

"There! Isn't this nice?" she says, taking her own seat. Kaagi catches a glimpse of the waste bin, overflowing with empty instant-microwave-waffle boxes.

"It's about time we had some "quality family time", you know?" Misato continues. "Plus, we never had a proper welcome for you, Kaagi. So, I called HQ, told them to expect us late, and then slaved all morning making an American breakfast, complete with utensils!"

"We have these in Germany," Asuka deadpans, holding out a fork for inspection.

"Thank you, Major. It's just like being back home," Kaagi says, enjoying the irony as he stares down at Belgian waffles and Canadian bacon.

All talking ceases as everyone digs in. Nothing but the sound of chewing, slurping, and the clatter of dishes slowly grates on Misato's nerves. She looks at the three teenagers in turn, each one rapt by the food in front of them.

"Well, come on!" shouts Misato, slamming her fork down. The children freeze mid-chew and Pen-pen looks up from his bowl. "We're supposed to be having "quality family time"! So somebody say something already!"

Misato glowers at them as they finish chewing and swallowing. Asuka looks helplessly at Kaagi, who just turns and shrugs at Shinji. Shinji has no one left to turn to, except his glaring guardian or a warm-water penguin. Perhaps stupidly, he opts for the former.

"Um…," says Shinji hesitantly, "you left your shaving stuff on the sink this morning." After that comment, Misato looks ready to explode.

"Oh, sorry," Kaagi chimes in, breaking the tension. "That was probably mine."

"You shave?" asks Asuka, sounding impressed. Shinji's relieved that the others have started talking, but the sound of Asuka's voice and the look she gives Kaagi ties his stomach in knots of jealousy.

"Yeah. But only like once a week."

"So, Kaagi," says Misato. "What's got you so happy these last couple of days?"

"Aren't I always happy… by comparison?" Kaagi jokes at the expense of his roommate.

"Come on," Misato encourages, "you know what I'm talking about."

"Well, okay," he says, blushing. "I didn't want to jinx it by saying anything… I mean, I haven't even talked to her since Friday…"

"Spit it out," goads Misato, eagerly sensing gossip.

"See… I asked Rei out on a date, and she accepted!" Kaagi says with as much humility as he can manage. Asuka drops her fork and Shinji nearly chokes.

"You what?"

"She what?"

"That's great!" cheers Misato. She darts her eyes suggestively from Shinji to Asuka and back again.

"Maybe the two of you should follow Kaagi's example," she tells them. "Ask somebody out." They turn their heads slowly from looking at her to stare across the table at each other. Shinji starts to choke again, and Asuka loses her grip on her fork once more. Misato just giggles uncontrollably.

After breakfast, they leave for NERV HQ. The dirty plates are still on the table, but each one is as clean as thorough eating can make it. Pen-pen, however, is still staring at a stack of barely nibbled waffles as they sit in his bowl. He sits another minute or so after they leave. Then, he waddles over to the fridge and begins to forage.

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Dr. Yoshi Kaiu looks up as the five Eva pilots shuffle in and stand at attention before him. They've each donned their plug-suits, and are awaiting his orders. They all look so eager and serious, in contrast to the rest of Yoshi's staff, milling around the test-lab in the drudgery of their routines.

"Hey, everybody," Yoshi greets them earnestly. "We're going to get started with the combat sims shortly. Three of you at a time will be going in, then rotating in and out. Sorry about that, but everything was designed under the assumption that we'd only ever have three active pilots. Units 07, 06, and 05 are loaded up, so we'll start with Rei, Kaagi, and Toji. You can head off to the boarding rooms, now. We'll be ready by the time you're plugged in."

The First, Sixth, and Fourth children comply, leaving Shinji and Asuka behind. Yoshi checks on the progress of a few technicians before turning back to them.

"We'll get to you two a little while," Yoshi tells them. "Everyone's going to have a turn sitting out with everyone else. But I sent the others ahead on purpose, because I've got some news for you." Shinji appears as nervous as Asuka is indifferent about what Yoshi may have to say.

"I was just told this morning," he continues, "that Commander Ikari has picked the two of you for a special mission. In one week, you'll be flying to the States."

"What for?" asks Asuka, irritated.

"Just the two of us?" asks Shinji. He can't decide if he's more excited about the prospect of spending time alone with Asuka or being able to get away from Kaagi.

"Yeah," answers Yoshi, "just you two. Apparently, the Lance of Longinus's lunar orbit has decayed, and it's landed on the moon's surface. NERV is sending you two to NASA with Unit-07, and you'll be getting it back for us."

"Dr. Kaiu, we're ready to begin," someone calls. Yoshi nods, then smiles at Asuka and Shinji before leaving them alone. Asuka crosses her arms and scowls, thumping down into the nearest chair. Shinji takes the seat next to her, and looks over at her in bewilderment.

"I thought you'd be honored to be going on a special mission," Shinji comments.

"You really are dense, aren't you?" she says. Shinji just stares at her blankly. "Let me enlighten you, Third Child. After that last battle, we're at the bottom of the pecking order. Wonder Girl got the kill, Kaagi took the big risk, and Toji had the brilliant idea. Toji, for crying out loud! So who do you think they want defending the city? Them, not us."

"I hadn't thought of it that way," says Shinji sadly.

Later, Rei takes Shinji's place sitting next to Asuka. After a while spent simply glaring at Rei, it occurs to Asuka that she may have a unique opportunity to torment her rival. Affecting an obviously feigned tone of friendliness, she decides to strike up a conversation.

"I hear that Kaagi asked you out," she says with just a hint of pity.

"That's correct," Rei confirms.

"So what are you going to wear?" Asuka asks overeagerly. Rei just looks at her, uncertain of the pertinence of the question.

"Don't tell me you haven't bought anything!" Asuka continues condescendingly. "Well, there's still time. The thrift shops are open late." Asuka smirks at Rei's look of confusion. She sits smugly the rest of the time, while doubt silently assails Rei.

"Hi, Rei," says Kaagi when his turn comes to sit out. Rei doesn't watch Asuka go, or turn to look at Kaagi when he addresses her. "Um… Shinji let slip that he and Asuka are leaving for some special mission next Monday, so I was thinking that you and I could go out this Saturday. Just in case we get busier without them around."

"That will be fine," she says after brief consideration.

An interminable silence follows. Kaagi is too humiliated to talk, thinking that Rei's upset that he didn't call over the weekend. He wishes he hadn't let nervousness keep him from the phone. It's only a mild comfort to him that she still agreed to the date.

The tests consume the rest of the day. After ten separate simulations, Yoshi dismisses the pilots to the showers. He buys a sandwich from a vending machine on the way back to his office, and Misato is waiting for him there when he arrives. He casually salutes as he walks past her to sit at his desk.

"All the kids did great today," says Yoshi. "I sent them to the showers a little while ago. They should be ready to go soon." While holding his sandwich in one hand, he scribbles notes with a pen held in the other. Misato, with her back to him, leans against the front of his desk, then looks over her shoulder at him as he writes. In her opinion, this is a very seductive pose. She smiles her comeliest smile as he continues writing.

"Oh, by the way," he says, not looking up from his notes, "I wanted to know if you were doing anything this Saturday. I was hoping you could come to dinner at the Bistro, about five-ish."

_That worked faster than I thought it would,_ Misato muses.

"I'd love to have dinner with you," she says demurely. "But why so early?"

"Well, I have more plans for later in the evening."

"Oh really?" she replies enthusiastically. "Sounds intriguing… but I guess I'll have to wait until then to find out."

"Um…," he starts, brow furrowed in thought, "maybe I should tell you-"

"Oh no!" interrupts Misato. "Not another word, Dr. Kaiu. You can't give it all away!" She darts from his office before he can speak further. Yoshi sits there awhile, finally giving up on the idea of chasing after her. Then, he returns to his paperwork.

_He actually asked me out,_ thinks Misato as she strides down the corridor. _Well, I wasn't exactly subtle, was I? Of course, now I have to figure out what I'm going to do with a guy like him. He's not really what I'd call my "type". But I think I'm starting to realize that my type of guy is not what I should be looking for. Sorry, Daddy…_

"Major Katsuragi?" a quiet voice calls. Misato turns around to find Rei standing a few paces behind her, though she hadn't even heard her approach.

"Yes, Rei?" she asks. Misato isn't as fearful of Rei as Shinji is, and she's better at hiding it, too. But something about the girl still makes her uneasy. What Ritsuko had shown her about Rei in the depths of the Geo-front was not easy to forget.

"I believe you have the expertise to assist me," Rei tells her. "I have a "date" this Saturday with Kaagi. Today, the Second Child implied that I did not have the proper clothes to go on such an outing. Was she correct?"

"Well, I don't know what kind of clothes you have," answers Misato. Rei looks down at the school uniform she's wearing, then back up at Misato.

"These," Rei says.

Misato sighs a heavy, sympathetic sigh. Any uneasiness she was feeling leaves her body with it. She sees nothing before her but a young girl without a clue, and her heart goes out to her. It begins to dawn on Misato that the pilots who live with her aren't the only ones she should be treating like family.

"I've got an idea," she says happily. "I've got a date on Saturday, too. How about, tomorrow after school, I pick you up, and we can go clothes shopping together? Are you free then?" Rei casts her eyes to the side for a moment before answering.

"Yes," Rei replies, not turning her eyes back. Her answer seems tentative, but Misato hadn't hoped for more enthusiasm than that. Rei, meanwhile, contemplates a deeper meaning behind the words Misato had used.

_Am I free?_ she wonders.

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"Hello, Gendo."

The room was pitch-black seconds ago. First, the door slid back, spilling light in around the man who had opened it. Next, the red NERV logo had lit up, splashed on the wall like a giant bloodstain. Lastly, a spotlight fell on a woman, seated in a chair. She looked up, and greeted her visitor.

"I was starting to think you'd forgotten about me," she continues. She'd be beautiful if her appearance weren't so disheveled. Her clothes look as thought they've been slept in for days. She wears no make-up, and her blonde hair is a tangled mess, grown long to reveal natural, dark roots.

"Why did you divulge the boy's location to SEELE?" Ikari asks her unceremoniously.

"You sound like a broken record," Ritsuko says disdainfully. "Does it matter "why"? What's done is done. I obliterated your dummy-cores, and you asked me "why" then, too. Crazed fool that I was, I told you. But knowing "why" didn't bring them back, did it? Now Kiel and his cronies have their hands on your last precious, little secret. And, again, you want to know "why". I'd like to know why you care." Ikari says nothing and Ritsuko sniffs haughtily.

"Why haven't you just killed me?" she spits.

"Your friend Katsuragi thinks I already have," he says.

"I don't have any friends," Ritsuko whispers. Then, she tosses her greasy hair back off her face and laughs. "So that's how it is? I don't answer you; you don't answer me… pretty childish, if you ask me. Instead, why don't we make a deal… like adults?"

"I'm listening."

"Well… as much as I enjoy the occasional visit from Maya… and I suppose you expect me to thank you for allowing that?" She smiles sarcastically. "What I'd really like is some time with you. Like dinner, perhaps? If you could arrange that, I'll tell you everything you want to know… after dessert, of course."

Ikari turns to go without answering.

"Great… you just think it over," she says, her voice still dripping with sarcasm.

He leaves, the door closes, and the lights go out once more.

"See you soon, Gendo."

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The next day at school, Rei barely notices the dismissal chime when it rings. She's been staring out the window again, lost in thought. If it weren't for Kaagi walking over to her, she may have stayed there indefinitely.

"Can I walk you out?" he asks sheepishly. She looks at him impassively, then nods. "You've been sort of withdrawn lately… even for you. I was hoping we could talk about it." Rei looks surprised, still unused to someone other than the Commander being interested in her feelings. But she can't put them into words, so she says nothing.

As Asuka watches them go, resentment burns in her narrowed eyes. Across the room, Hikari sees her friend scrutinizing the couple, and she shudders. If it had been Toji leaving with Rei instead of Kaagi, she's pretty sure she would have looked at them the same way. The bitterness mars Asuka's beauty, and Hikari knows it would have made herself look outright ugly.

"Hey, Asuka!" Hikari calls, catching up with Asuka as she walks out of the classroom. They haven't had anything more than superficial talks since school started again, and Hikari has decided that today will be the day that changes.

"Hey, Hikari," says Asuka with disappointment. Hikari refuses to take Asuka's tone personally, and keeps pace with her as they continue down the hall.

"What's the matter?" she asks.

"Stupid Wonder Girl," Asuka says with contempt. "She's so damned conceited! She thinks she's a better pilot than me, but I'll be damned if she's going to think she has a better social life than me, too!"

"Well, gosh, Asuka," says Hikari, "every boy in school would still kill to go out with you." She wonders if her jealousy over that fact was showing. It's always been hard for Hikari to get people to like her, since she has to tell them what to do all the time. And she finds that boys, especially, don't often like a girl who gives them orders.

"Well… there is one boy that I'm particularly interested in."

"Really?" says Hikari brightly. She's glad to finally hear Asuka share her thoughts and feelings with her again. "Do I know him? Maybe I can set you up."

"Oh, you know him," Asuka says with a predatory gleam in her eye. "His name is Kaagi Chuda." Hikari looks horrified, but Asuka is oblivious to her friend's admonishment.

"Oh, Asuka, why?" Hikari asks with disappointment. "Can't you just find your own boyfriend?" Though Hikari is trying to suggest a positive alternative, Asuka interprets the question as Hikari doubting her charisma.

"Of course I can!" Asuka huffs. "But that's not the point. I've got to put that little bitch Rei in her place! It's almost funny, because she has no idea how much "her" Kaagi really likes me. But she's going to find out!"

"What are you planning?" Hikari asks, still aghast. She wants to tell Asuka that whatever she's planning, it's wrong. But she doesn't want to risk losing her only friend. Not again.

"Oh, just a little something," says Asuka conspiratorially. "And I think I can use your help. Those two are going out together on Saturday, but we're going to make it a group-date. See, first, you ask out Toji, and get him to invite the two of you along with them. That way nothing will seem suspicious. Then, I'll ask to tag along with my date."

"Wh-what?" gasps Hikari. The details are swirling around in her head. She tries to make sense of them all, but the one that says "you ask out Toji" keeps sending the others spinning away.

"Next comes the really clever part," Asuka continues explaining. "I'm going to find out which boy in school Kaagi is the most jealous of, and then I'm going to bring him on the group-date. You know how competitive boys are. Kaagi will want me more than ever if I'm with someone he already envies. Then, when I start flirting with him, he'll respond just to show the other boy up!"

"I don't know about this," is all the protest Hikari can muster.

"Come on!" pleads Asuka. "You've got to help me stick it to her! You are my friend aren't you? Just go up and ask Toji out. I know you want to, and here's a perfectly good reason."

Hikari knows that Asuka's vendetta against Rei is just about the worst reason to ask out Toji. But she also knows that she'll never even have the nerve to talk to him, without Asuka pressuring her into it.

As they walk out of the building, Toji is the first thing Hikari sees. He, Kensuke, and Shinji are clustered around Misato's waiting car. Asuka prods her friend in the back with an index finger while smiling and nodding. Frowning with determination, Hikari marches over to Toji.

"Suzuhara, I need to talk to you," she commands. Toji shoots his friends a confused look as he lets himself be led aside.

"What is it, Class Rep?"

"Well, I just found out today that Kaagi and Rei are going out this Saturday," she begins, improvising all the way. "And… I thought we should go with them. It's their first date, and they'll probably be less nervous with other people around." Hikari is proud of, and comforted by, her quick rationalization.

"Are you asking me out?" Toji asks bluntly.

"I… uh… well…," Hikari stammers, looking around for Asuka's help. She sees her friend having a talk with Shinji, not far away.

"C'mon, Shinji," says Asuka, "you share a room with him! You must know someone Kaagi's jealous of!"

"Um…," Shinji starts, completely baffled by this line of questioning, "he said he was jealous of me yesterday. Does that help?"

"You?" Asuka scoffs.

"I'm sorry," Toji tells Hikari, "this is all wrong." At that, Hikari runs to Asuka's side before she can start crying.

"Hey, Kaagi!" Toji calls out as Kaagi and Rei walk together toward Misato's car. Everyone in the parking lot turns to look when Toji yells. "Can Hikari and I come along with you two on Saturday?"

"Uh… sure," is all Kaagi can say. With everyone looking him, he doesn't want to seem ungracious. A glance at Rei reveals no objection from her. He continues walking with her to Misato's car while Toji goes over to Hikari, who's blushing fiercely after Toji's outburst.

"See, it's the guy who's supposed to make all the arrangements and do the asking," Toji explains to Hikari. She sighs in relief and smiles broadly. Toji blushes, and smiles back.

"Hey, I just heard," says Asuka, marching up to Kaagi with Shinji in tow. "Do you mind if we come too?"

"We?" asks Kaagi.

"Shinji and me," Asuka says, as if Kaagi should have known.

"Uh… okay," he says, deeply perplexed. After spending most of the day wondering what was on Rei's mind, suddenly hearing what's on everyone else's is more than Kaagi can manage.

"Wewe're going out?" Shinji asks, stunned.

"Don't you want to go out with me?" Asuka asks, eyeing Shinji like he's gone mad. In his own fearful way, he's eyeing her in the same manner.

"Um… yes I do?" he hazards.

"Good," she says. "Then it's settled."

_I don't know what I'm doing,_ Rei thinks. _And I don't know why I'm doing it. Part of me… maybe more than just part of me… wants to be with, and spend time with, Kaagi. But I don't know why. And I feel awkward talking to him about it. I could talk to the Commander about anything, and he would listen and care… but not this. Somehow, I know that without even trying. Maybe Major Katsuragi can help me understand._

"I translated a poem for you," Kaagi tells Rei as they stand by Misato's car. She takes the offered paper and reads the title: "The Lady Fox" by J. Hendrix.

_He's reaching out to me,_ Rei thinks. _But I don't know how to reach back. It's not the same as it is with the Commander… or Shinji…. How can I tell him that I know nothing… but yet I still believe that everything will be all right?_

"When you embraced me after the battle," she says to him out of the blue, "I liked how it made me feel." Kaagi doesn't know how to reply, except to smile a bewildered smile.

"Well, sorry to break you two up," Asuka interrupts, unable to resist dropping a hint at the disaster she's planned, "but Kaagi, Shinji, and I have to be getting home, now."

"Yeah, sorry I can't give you a ride today," Misato says, opening the door for Rei. Rei looks away from Kaagi, and then climbs into the passenger seat. "But us two girls have some shopping to do! Bye-bye!"

Shinji, Asuka, and Kaagi stand, watching Misato's car depart. Each wears a look of confusion, each for a different reason. Behind them, Toji and Hikari are still smiling at each other. And on the curbside, Kensuke sits, wishing he'd brought his camera today.

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In a darkened room, a man and a woman huddle together in front of rows of computer banks. The woman squints, straining to read several printouts in the dim light. The man just shakes his head.

"So, the psychometric readings have remained this high throughout the week?" she asks.

"Yeah," the man says. He walks over and taps on a large, glass cylinder. "It doesn't even look alive. But, like you said, it's "awake"… Did you see the figures that correlate with the timeframe of the Angel attack?"

"I did, and I'm impressed," she says. The man smiles and the woman scowls. "Not with you."

"I know," he says guiltily, "but I never could resist a compliment."

"Well, how's this, then? With the data you've helped me to collect, we finally have what we need to make SEELE an offer."

"And if they refuse?"

"They won't," the woman tells him, "because they know that if they do, we'll take what we have to Ikari."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"I am uncertain that I should go through with this," Rei says, feeling daunted as she and Misato walk through the mall. She had never been to a mall before. Signs silently scream about sales. People all around her press uncomfortably close. She never thought she'd desire the quiet solitude of her apartment, until now.

"You sound just like Shinji," Misato chastises. Rei ponders this statement. Any clue as to how she may be connected to Shinji interests her, especially after her recent encounters with Kaworu.

"I do?" Rei asks. Misato nods.

"You shouldn't let one snide comment from Asuka discourage you," she reassures her. "Besides, you can't back out now. Kaagi would be heartbroken." Rei can tell from the context that this would be bad, but "heartbroken" is just another word for which she has no frame of reference.

"There's so much I don't know…," she says aloud.

"Well, I'm not just your fashion consultant…" (_I'm probably your only female role model,_ Misato realizes.) "…you can ask me about anything." Rei thinks on this a moment.

"After how many dates does one typically engage in intercourse?" she asks, blindsiding Misato.

"Uh…," (_Did you ever just ask the wrong person!_ she thinks.) "…you're too young to be thinking about that." The sentiment is sincere, but Misato still feels like a clichéd adult.

"I will be fifteen this year," Rei says. She also mentions the exact month and day she was born in 2001, and it sounds oddly familiar to Misato. But she can't spare the time to try remembering what other significance the date may have.

"Trust me, you really are too young," she reiterates.

"_Because I said so"_ Misato thinks mockingly. Miserably, she also thinks, _I really am becoming a parent; an old, un-cool parent._ Dauntless, Rei continues on the subject.

"This seems contrary to what I overheard Kachiko Naguchi-"

"Kachiko Naguchi sounds like a slut," Misato interrupts. She takes a deep breath, stops walking, and looks Rei dead in the eyes. "Look, if you feel like kissing him, go ahead and kiss him. If you feel like doing more than that… just don't… until we talk some more, okay?"

Rei doesn't appear to comprehend the social difference between kissing and intercourse, but she knows very well how to follow an order. She nods, and Misato breathes a sigh of relief. They continue walking through the mall until they come upon a clothing store.

"Do you see anything you like?" she asks Rei as they enter.

Rei looks around at all the clothes. She notes the different cuts, colors, and textures, but to her, those distinctions are meaningless. She understands clothes only in their capacity as covering for the body. Certain clothes, like a school uniform or a plug-suit, are required for certain activities. But she's never attached any emotional significance to them. Not even as minor an emotion as "like".

"Can I help you, Ma'am?" interjects a perky clerk.

"Well, I'm looking for something low-cut," Misato tells her. "Maybe a short skirt to go with it… and some high-heels, if you carry shoes here."

"I see…," says the clerk, smiling artificially. She looks at Rei. "And what size does your daughter wear?"

"I meant for me," Misato says icily.

_Is there some vast conspiracy to make me feel old?_ she thinks. She massages her temples with both hands to keep herself from wrapping them around the salesgirl's neck. Fortunately, the young lady quickly departs.

"I'm looking for something low-cut…," Misato hears Rei tell another clerk who was wandering by.

"No you're not!" she yells.

_This is going to be a long afternoon…._

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Episode Midpoint


	6. Episode 3, part 2

**Evangelion: New Testament**

Episode: 3 (part 2)

"Lost"

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On Saturday afternoon, the upstairs bathroom of the Suzuhara home is awash in the aroma of cheap cologne and sheer terror. Mostly, the former is emanating from Toji Suzuhara, while Shinji Ikari is secreting the majority of the latter. Along with Kaagi Chuda, they inexpertly primp and preen in the claustrophobic surroundings.

"When was Misato dropping off the girls, again?" asks Toji as he scrutinizes his face, mere inches from the mirror.

"I just called a few minutes ago," says Kaagi, nervously combing his hair for the fifth time. "They said they were on their way… probably just about to head out the door."

"Didn't they say the same thing when you called half-an-hour ago?" replies Toji. Kaagi frowns disapprovingly at Toji's skepticism.

"Well… yes," he concedes, combing his hair again.

Several minutes later, they hear Misato's car-horn honking outside. Heedless of each other's safety, they dash madly out of the bathroom, down the stairs, and through the front door. The instant they blast out of the house, however, their pace transforms into a leisurely stroll, in order to hide their eagerness from the girls. Of course, they'd have had an easier time hiding an Eva in a shot glass.

Misato's car waits in the street with its motor running, belching exhaust. If one ignores the odor, the smoke makes the emergence of the girls from the passenger-side door seem almost ethereal.

Rei steps out first, clad in a tight, black skirt that comes to just below her knees. On top, she wears a sky-blue, sleeveless turtleneck. She wobbles a bit in the heels she's wearing, but four days of diligent practice allow her to carry herself with elegance. Hikari follows Rei out, wearing a dress that's yellow and airy. Both boys who live with Asuka know that it's one of hers, but Hikari is here for neither of them. Her hair is pulled back into one long braid, because she thought it would make her look more grown-up than her normal ponytails. Asuka herself exits the car last. She's wearing the white, floral-print dress that she'd meant to debut at Toji's party two weeks ago. It hadn't grabbed Shinji's attention that morning, but it does today, since he's under the mistaken impression that she's here for him.

Shinji tries to swallow his anxiety, but his mouth is too dry to swallow anything. The girls walk up as Misato's car speeds away, with Hikari smiling broadly, Asuka smiling demurely, and Rei smiling not at all, as usual. Rei looks almost business-like in her demeanor and apparel. She courteously but stiffly takes Kaagi's arm as he offers it to her, while Asuka, in contrast, drapes herself across Shinji's back.

_Oh my God,_ he realizes as she presses against him, _I don't think she's wearing a bra…!_

_Come on, Kaagi,_ Asuka thinks, _look at me! I'm not some frigid little tease like your date. There's no way you can prefer that to me!_

Soon, the three couples leave Toji's yard, making their way to an old revival movie theatre not far away. Kaagi had arranged for the owner to play a particular feature this afternoon, and then had planned dinner, followed by a trip to a video arcade.

On the way, Rei and Kaagi walk arm in arm, Hikari and Toji walk close, but not touching, while Shinji practically has to drag Asuka, who's still adorning him like a shawl. All the while, he savors the smell of her hair, the warmth of her body, and the softness of her skin that accidentally brushes against his. It's like he's living in his wildest fantasy, where Asuka is his girlfriend, but it's all real. And it's certainly too good to dare question, so he doesn't.

When they enter in the darkened theatre, Asuka makes a point of waiting until Rei and Kaagi sit down so she can take the seat directly next to him. On her other side, Shinji boldly reaches over to search for her hand on their common armrest, but it's not there. Asuka's facing away from him, leaning with both arms on the armrest she shares with Kaagi.

"I can move, if you're not comfortable," Kaagi tells Asuka politely.

She just bats her eyes at him, smiling, until he leaves the seat and moves to the other side of Rei, on the aisle. Discouraged, Asuka turns to face the screen. Shinji doesn't dare try to hold either of her hands again, for he would have to delve into her lap to get them. Sullenly, he too resigns himself to only watching the movie.

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The valets on duty outside the Bistro hear it before they see it. Thus, they have ample time to seek cover. A blue hatch-back squeals past them, spinning effortlessly into an empty parking space. The lot attendants stare as a pair of long legs ease smoothly out of the driver's seat. Misato Katsuragi stands, adjusts her dangerously tiny skirt, then strolls confidently past them and into the restaurant. A glance in one of the mirrors lining the walls reaffirms what she already knew.

_I am hot!_ she thinks. The restaurant's host appears to agree, unable to keep his eyes off the cross around her neck or whatever else may be in the vicinity of her plunging neckline. She flashes him a blinding smile, and he blushes despite himself.

"I'm meeting someone here," she says. "A Dr. Kaiu?"

_I should have known,_ he thinks, _the pretty ones always date doctors…._ Grabbing a menu, he points to a private dining area off to the side, then graciously gestures for her to go first. Misato leads the way, much to his delight at being treated to a view from behind her.

After a few more steps, she becomes oriented to where she can see inside the private area. What she sees stops her cold, causing the host to accidentally bump into her. He decides that he can now die happy, while a red-faced Misato ducks behind the nearest support column.

"Is something wrong, Miss?" asks the host. In the room she is now hiding from, Misato had seen Yoshi sure enough… and Hyuga and Aoba and Maya and even Fuyutsuki, along with a handful of other people she didn't recognize off-hand. Dr. Nishizono was probably there too, because that would be her luck.

"I thought it was just going to be the two of us!" she finds herself confiding in the host. He just nods respectfully, hands her the menu, and goes.

While furiously trying to figure out what to do, Misato notices someone waving at her from across the room. A man wearing glasses, sitting in a private dining area directly opposite the one she's hiding from, seems to be beckoning her over. Upon closer inspection, she realizes that she's looking in a mirror. Hyuga, and now everyone else, has seen her and they expect her to join them.

"I'm glad you could make it to Dr. Kaiu's meet-and-greet," says Hyuga as she sits in the chair he'd saved for her. She flushes with embarrassment as the assembled staff observe her attire with arched eyebrows. She tries to tuck a napkin into the top of her blouse, but it's so low-cut she may as well have put it in her lap.

Misato decides to spend the rest of the dinner hiding behind her menu, and the waitress who tries to take it later nearly loses an arm for her trouble.

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"So… nobody liked the movie?" asks an exasperated Kaagi. Too late, he wonders if it was a bad idea to take them to see an old American movie. He thought the dub was decent, though.

"I liked that one guy," Toji comments. "The part where he taped some guy's butt together; they should have shown that."

"I don't understand why the red-haired girl talked to any of those other freaks," Asuka complains.

"I could relate to the part where the quiet girl acquired new clothes," Rei says quietly.

_And I understand why the blonde boy wanted to shoot himself. Everyone expected so much of him, and he couldn't live up to that,_ Shinji thinks, but he doesn't speak up. He smiles a little thinking about it, but doesn't let Kaagi see. _He was going to use a flare-gun! That's so dumb… like something I'd do._

"There were a lot of funny parts," Hikari adds, encouragingly.

The six of them walk together down the streets of Tokyo-3. Kaagi had planned efficiently, and the restaurant is not far from the theatre. Shinji notices with relief that only Kaagi and Rei are holding hands. Though he wishes he were doing so with Asuka, he doesn't feel left out, since Toji and Hikari aren't either. He hadn't seen Toji yawn, stretch, and drop his arm on the back of Hikari's seat, about halfway through the movie.

"Party of six?" asks the hostess upon their arrival at the restaurant.

"Actually…," Kaagi starts, about to protest.

"Of course!" interrupts Asuka, throwing her arms around both Shinji and Kaagi. "We're all just a bunch of friends, having a night on the town."

"Uh… right!" agrees Toji, darting his hand behind his back, seconds away from trying to grasp Hikari's.

"There may be quite a wait for a large table," the hostess warns.

"Well, three sets of two wouldn't be out of the question," Kaagi says, recovering. He gives Asuka a bemused look as she continues to hang on him. She just glowers back.

"Well, then," says the hostess, "I have one small table right over-" Kaagi grabs Rei and drags her in the direction the hostess is pointing, before she can even finish. Asuka immediately yanks her arm off of Shinji, and sidles next to Hikari.

"Okay…," says the flustered hostess. "And there's another table for two just next to that one."

"Thank you!" says Hikari gratefully. Asuka nudges her friend and smiles a devilish smile.

"That's great, Hikari," she whispers to her, as she watches Rei and Kaagi study their menus. "We'll be able to see everything, and listen in, and…" Her congratulations trail off as she sees Hikari walking with Toji over to the second table.

"I'll let you two know as soon as I have another table," the hostess assures Asuka and Shinji.

Shyly, Shinji ambles closer to Asuka, intent on taking her hand as they wait. He brushes his fingers lightly against hers, tentatively searching for approval. She pulls them quickly away, crossing her arms in a huff. Shinji's fragile ego decides to conclude that this is only coincidence.

"Well, at least there's still the arcade," Asuka says mostly to herself.

_But… but there's still dinner too,_ Shinji thinks helplessly, but to no avail.

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Hours later, with incessant electronic music and sound effects thick in the air, the six teenagers navigate the crowded video-game arcade. The three boys had, by now, spent a good deal of time and money assessing the realism of the many "giant-robot-combat" games, concluding that none were adequate. Though encouraged by the boys to join in, Hikari and Asuka had declined, and spent the time being frustrated over the lack of attention they were receiving. Rei had just played timing games, deciding that it was more practical to hone her reflexes.

Now, the night is winding down, and everyone feels ready to go. Hikari is already mentally planning the second date, with a radically different itinerary. Asuka, on the other hand, is feeling mounting pressure to show Kaagi, decisively, her superiority over Rei. Searching the current surroundings for a proper instrument of comparison, she spies the game "Dance-Dance Revelation".

"Hey, Wonder Girl, does this remind you of anything?" she shouts above the din. Everyone but Rei turns to look with interest. Rei just turns to look. "Remember how Shinji and I defeated the seventh Angel? Why don't we see if you're better than me yet?"

"In that circumstance, I don't think it was a question of-"

"What's the matter?" interrupts Asuka. "Scared I'll wipe the floor with you?"

Rei had been speaking too quietly to be heard, anyway. She looks to Kaagi, who seems anxious to see her attempt to best Asuka at the game. Indeed, all three boys are looking similarly expectant. Rei bows briefly to Asuka, then steps onto the game's platform. Asuka confidently steps up beside her, and goes about selecting a song.

"How about "Real Emotion"? Since you don't have any," Asuka mocks, not loud enough for anyone but Rei to hear.

"That will be fine," Rei states, removing her shoes.

"How is she going to dance in that dress?" Hikari asks rhetorically. "She can barely get her knees apart."

"Too bad for Kaagi," says Toji, forgetting the company he's in. A sharp rap upside the head from Hikari reminds him.

As if she'd heard the comment, Rei reaches down to the hem of her skirt. With a sharp rip, she tears along the seam until her right leg is exposed to mid-thigh. The other five stand with their mouths agape. Toji earns another swat from Hikari for staring too intently. Rei just follows the arrows that start climbing the screen as the song begins.

"What can I do for you…?" the machine starts singing. "What can I do for you…? What can I do for you…? I can hear you…"

To Asuka's consternation, Rei effortlessly keeps time with the music. The opening verse continues with its techno beat, and both girls start to sweat.

"…But those things I've seen… in those hazy dreams… can't compare with what I'm seein' now…"

A blizzard of arrows erupts from the bottom of the screen as the song nears its chorus. Rei and Asuka glance quickly at each other, and then it's on….

"…And though, I know, the world of real emotion has surrounded me… I won't give into it. Now, I know, that forward is the only way my heart can go… I hear your voice calling out to me: "You'll never be alone." What can I do for you…?"

Rei watches as everything spins, and she lands clumsily on her rump. Kaagi is at her side in a second, asking if she's okay. Something in the lyrics had broken her concentration, but she's still reeling and can't recall what it was. She looks up to see Asuka sneering down at her.

"I'm unhurt," Rei tells Kaagi. "I would just like… some air."

A few minutes later, Shinji finds himself sitting on a bench outside the arcade with Asuka. Kaagi is walking around with Rei, until he's convinced she's truly uninjured. Toji and Hikari have just decided to leave, and he's walking her home.

_Something's been bothering Asuka, but I don't know what it is,_ Shinji thinks. _I don't want to ask, because she'll probably say it's my fault, whether it is or not. I really wanted this to go well… but I guess I shouldn't have spent so much time playing games with Toji. She hardly talked to me at all, during the movie or dinner. Was I trying to get back at her by ignoring her? I'm so stupid… it didn't really work, anyway._

He looks down at her hand, realizing he'd given up trying to hold it.

Shinji doesn't notice Kaagi and Rei's circular path bringing them around by the bench again, but Asuka does. It infuriates her to see them together, despite her efforts. Running out of ideas, she latches onto the most outrageous one yet.

"Kiss me!" Asuka hisses at Shinji. He looks like he's been dowsed with cold water, but physiologically, the opposite has occurred.

"Kiss me, you idiot!" she repeats. Shinji is in shock, but lust and fear drive him to comply.

He presses his mouth against hers, and they kiss for the second time ever. It's different for him than it was the first time, though. Before, Asuka had at least a detached interest in experiencing the act with him. Now, it was like kissing a stone: cold, hard, and unresponsive. Still, Shinji presses on, convinced that this could be the best, and maybe the only chance he has to express his feelings for her. He tries to push all his desire, longing, and affection for her into this one kiss.

"Ugh!" she yelps, pulling back and spitting on the ground. "Was that your tongue?" Then, craning her neck to see, Asuka watches Kaagi and Rei continue on by. "He didn't even notice…," she grumbles.

Shinji's heart shatters, along with his delusions. He can no longer ignore the fact that Asuka has shown no real interest in him this whole evening. The tiny feather of hope that he'd held within his heart, now exposed to the night air, is carried away on a breeze.

Feeling wholly empty, Shinji just gets up and starts walking away.

He thinks he should be crying, or a least sad. But he's consumed by a numbness that defies logic. He doesn't see or hear anything but his feet landing on the pavement as he rounds a corner. He doesn't care anymore. He's just going home.

"Where are you going?" he hears Kaagi ask, as the other boy catches up to him. There may or may not have been an accusatory aspect to Kaagi's tone, but Shinji is sure that he heard one. It almost surprises him how quickly his numbness breaks into rage.

"Shut up," Shinji says, and he finds it liberating. He's sure his failure with Asuka is somehow Kaagi's fault. The memory of Kaagi rejecting the Commander's praise also burns hotly at the forefront of his mind. He's embracing his hatred of Kaagi completely, and it feels right.

"What?" asks Kaagi, taken aback.

"Just shut up and leave me alone," Shinji repeats, still walking away. Kaagi, growing angry, runs ahead and stands in Shinji's way.

Shinji feels the hatred bubbling up inside him as he approaches the obstacle in his path. With a growl, he throws his arms up and shoves Kaagi backward with all his might. Having seen it coming, Kaagi only moves back a step or two. Shinji sees the fist and feels the impact across his chin almost simultaneously, followed by another dull pain as his butt hits the ground.

Both boys stare at each other for a moment, while the madness that held them slowly grants release. Not knowing what to say, Kaagi goes to rejoin the girls. Shinji watches him disappear back around the corner, then pulls himself up. He stands there, with nothing to show for his outburst but throbbing pain in his chin and backside.

_I'm so useless,_ he thinks before continuing on home.

"So, where is he going?" an annoyed Asuka asks Kaagi upon his return.

"Uh…," he begins, looking back to see if Shinji was also returning. "…I think he's going home. Maybe he felt sick."

"At least you're still here. I guess you'll just have to walk me home instead, then."

"I have to walk Rei home," Kaagi says. "Why don't you call a taxi with your cell?"

"Why don't you call Rei a cab?" Asuka retorts.

"Well, it's not safe for a young girl to ride in a strange taxi alone at night," he says.

"Then why did you suggest that I-?" she stops when she sees him smiling.

"Gotcha," he says to the red-faced redhead. She just crosses her arms and raises her eyebrows expectantly. "All right… I'll take Rei home, then come back here and walk with you. Okay?"

"Fine!" she says, feigning anger. Secretly, she's thanking Shinji for rudely walking off, so that she can have some time alone with Kaagi. As he gathers Rei, and they make for her apartment, Asuka calls out, "Don't keep me waiting!"

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After a brisk walk, Rei and Kaagi arrive at the door to Rei's apartment. He feels her hand gripping his, as it had been since they began their trek. He doesn't want to let go, and he doesn't think she wants to either. It's the hand she would use to open the door, leaving him, and ending the night. He can only think of one thing to do to prolong the moment, so he starts to sing.

"Did you see the lights, as they fell all around you…? Did you hear the music, a serenade from the stars…? Wake up, wake up… wake up and look around you… We're lost in space, and the time is our own."

She doesn't understand the words, but the melody is soothing and he carries it well.

"Did you feel the wind, as it blew all around you…? Did you feel the love that was in the air…?"

Though he sings often, this gesture of him singing only for her makes Rei feel as if she's being given something… a gift. And no one has ever given her a gift before.

"The sun comes up, and it shines all around you… You're lost in space, and the Earth is your home…."

Afterward, Kaagi translates as best he can. A hint of a smile crosses Rei's face, but then is gone. He feels her hands let go of his, but he keeps holding on.

"I'm not lost," she says, as if trying to convince herself. The "now that I've found you" that Kaagi's romantic heart hopes would follow her statement doesn't. Nevertheless, he saw her tiny smile come and go, and he's sure it coincided with his translation of the line about "love".

Mustering all his courage, Kaagi leans in to kiss her. To his surprise and delight, she moves forward to close the distance between them. Their lips touch, and they share each other's first kiss. Unconsciously, Kaagi pulls Rei closer to him, letting go of her hands to wrap his arms around her. It occurs to Kaagi, after a few seconds, that he should do something other than stay frozen to her like a statue. With enthusiasm and lack of blood impairing his brain, he tries moving and pressing the kiss harder at the same time.

"Ouch," Rei says. It sounds forced coming from her, as if she put thought into what she should say, rather than just reacting. "Your glasses…."

_Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!_ he thinks. _I just blew it._

"That seemed somehow incorrect," Rei observes. Kaagi continues giving himself a mental beating. Then, she adds plainly, "Perhaps we should go inside to practice further."

She opens her door, and moves through the kitchen into the bedroom beyond. Kaagi follows as closely on her heels as he can without stepping on her. Still too enthused and too American, he forgets to remove his shoes.

Then, without warning, Rei undresses down to her underpants. Kaagi is naturally enthralled. Try as it might, his sense of modesty is unable to turn him away. She, however, pays no attention to him, going passively about her evening routine. When Rei stands before him, topless before putting on her nightshirt, Kaagi's modesty declares an unconditional surrender to his hormones.

Rei sits down on her bed, and looks up at Kaagi, as if inviting him to sit with her. He tries not to reap any wild expectations from this or her undressing. There's nowhere else to sit, and he thinks he remembers seeing in a documentary that the Japanese are immodest about nudity.

Carefully, but also a bit too anxiously, Kaagi puts his glasses in his jacket on Rei's dresser and then sits down beside her. He realizes the jacket hasn't left that spot for nearly two weeks, and it pleases him, that this token of his has been with her when she'd otherwise be alone.

"_If you feel like kissing him, go ahead and kiss him", _Rei remembers Misato's words. This time, she leans in first. But Kaagi meets her more than halfway. And this time, they get it right.

Rei drinks in the softness of his touch as his hands and mouth caress her. She's adrift in the pleasure of it all. She doesn't return his embrace, but willingly succumbs to his authority over her body. She had no idea she could feel this way. Always before, she'd experienced life from a removed perspective, as if observing herself from afar. But this time, it's different. She's now immersed in the experience, utterly and blissfully.

They both feel like they've finally returned to a place often visited, after spending too much time away. Nothing feels more natural to them than kissing each other, and they do for a long time. Kaagi can feel Rei's mouth smiling against his as the kiss continues. She pulls back slightly, just to breathe and look tenderly at him, as he looks adoringly back at her.

"No!" Rei whispers in shock.

Kaagi pulls back, too, watching her face contort in obvious torment. He opens his mouth to reflexively apologize, though he has no idea what could be distressing her. Suddenly, before he can speak, he's grabbed from behind and hurled off Rei's bed.

Kaagi's head and back explode in pain as he collides with the wall. His legs buckle, and he falls to his hands and knees. Then, his attacker delivers a punishing kick to his ribs, sending him sprawling face-first to the floor. He lies there, helpless, unable to stop two more kicks from connecting with his torso.

_Please don't hurt Rei,_ he thinks, as he feels a hand grip his arm. His head and limbs are banged and scraped as he's dragged out of the bedroom, then through the kitchen. He catches a blurred glimpse of Rei, sitting woodenly on the bed, before being thrown out the front door, into the concrete railing beyond.

Kaagi's head is swimming and his vision is spotted. Slowly, he notices stinging, wet sensations on his face. He realizes he must be cut and bleeding, but he can't recall exactly how it happened. Faintly, he's aware of someone standing over him, as he lies crumpled on the walkway.

"You are not to interact socially with Rei Ayanami again," Gendo Ikari says evenly. "Do you understand me?"

_No!_ Kaagi thinks, willing himself to not cry. _Not him…! Shit, he's crazy! Close the door, Rei! Close it, and lock it!_

"Go to Hell," he says, trying to buy Rei time. He wanted to shout the words at the Commander, but he could only force them out in a choking rasp.

Gendo responds with a firm backhand across Kaagi's face. Then, he picks the boy up by the shirt, in order to punch him in the stomach. Winded, Kaagi sinks down once more. His ears are ringing, and he's having trouble focusing, but he can still see Rei's door standing open. Gendo repeats his question, though Kaagi can barely hear it.

_He's going to kill me, _Kaagi presumes,_ and there's nothing I can do about it._ The despair of it is too much for him, and he starts to cry. Gendo sees the boy's shoulders quiver with fitful weeping.

"Cowardly and weak… not unlike my son," he comments regretfully.

_Did he say "my son"?_ Kaagi's ragged thoughts ask. Gradually, a conclusion forms in his mind. _He means Shinji. Damned Shinji! He probably put his father up to this… told him how I hit him. Can't fight for himself, the little prick!_

"I'm going to check on Rei," Gendo tells him. "I advise you to be gone before I finish."

Gendo closes and locks the door behind him upon re-entering the apartment. Rei hasn't moved at. The Commander walks unhurriedly over to the bed and gazes down at her. She just stares straight ahead.

"I'm disappointed in you, Rei," he says softly. She shows no reaction, but he continues. "Had you told me about him earlier, this unpleasantness could have been avoided."

"Why did this happen?" she asks quietly, dispassionately.

"I needed to protect you," Gendo explains, kneeling down in front of her. He places his left hand on her shoulder gently, keeping his right hand behind his back. "I know how he thinks…. To him, you are just a thing, to use for his own pleasure. And when you are no longer of use to him… he will discard you without a second thought."

Rei hangs her head. Gendo lifts her chin and smiles at her, but her eyes seem to look through him, and she doesn't smile back. Forlornly, he stands and turns away.

"It was for the best," he tells her firmly, but not angrily. He then leaves her apartment, making sure to lock the door behind him. On the walkway outside, Gendo sees only a few drops of blood. He looks at the white glove on his right hand, also stained with the boy's blood. Smiling wryly, he goes.

Once he's sure the Commander is far away, Kaagi pulls himself from hiding and stumbles to Rei's door. He tries the handle, but it's locked. He knocks lightly, but when that yields no answer, he starts pounding.

"Rei!" he calls. His voice is recovering, but it still hurts him to talk. "Are you all right…? It's me, Kaagi…. He's… he's gone now. You can open up."

"Go away!" she shouts angrily from inside. Kaagi can't believe the hatred in her voice.

"Please, let me in," he begs. He needs the sympathy as much as he needs the shelter. But Rei offers neither. "Please…."

"Go away!" she yells again. Kaagi bites hard on his lip, but he can't keep the tears from coming again. Not wanting to leave, but unable to stay and endure Rei's wrath, he begins the long walk back to the arcade where Asuka waits for him.

_Fine!_ his pain-wracked brain thinks as the tears stream down. _I guess she's not who I thought she was. She's cold and heartless, just like Shinji. They deserve each other. Damn them both!_

His quick rationalization against Rei helps ease the stabbing pain in his heart, if only just a little. Unfortunately, it was not Kaagi whom Rei was commanding to go. Between them stood the door, but between her and the door stood Kaworu. She never heard Kaagi's cries for help.

"You are fortunate to have such a protector in Gendo Ikari," Kaworu tells her. Whether he's being sincere or sarcastic is unclear. "It is essential that your purity is maintained. The allure of the Fruit of Knowledge is great, but you would deny yourself the Fruit of Life."

"I don't know what you're talking about," she says. Her underlying need to understand dulls the angry edge to her voice.

"You sound like Shinji," Kaworu observes, smiling. Rei remembers Misato having said the same thing, a few days ago. It had made her think of Kaworu then. Now, he was using the same words, deliberately it seemed, as if he knew.

"I know what you fear," he continues. "You, like Shinji, fear being alone. The time will come when he will seek you out, and you will become one with him. That was my destiny; that is our destiny. Until then, you may take heart in this: Man is fundamentally alone, an entity unto himself. But we are not Men. You will never be alone, because I will always be with you."

"No!" Rei whispers.

_But denying the truth can't change it._

She feels her grip on sanity slacken. She can't tell if the thought was hers, or Kaworu's.

Rei lunges for the closest object she can reach, and then hurls it at Kaworu. The Commander's glasses shatter all over the kitchen floor. But Kaworu is gone.

Rei sits down on her bed and starts to cry. Tears come like they never have before, flooding down her face, stinging her eyes with their saltiness. She knows the sadness comes from loss, but which loss…? The glasses, Kaagi, or her sanity… she just can't tell.

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Sitting impatiently on a bench outside the arcade, Asuka asks yet another passer-by for the time. It's taken far longer for Kaagi to return than she'd hoped. Still, even in this amount of time, she can't imagine that he's gotten farther with Rei than she'd be willing to go to steal him.

The sight of a hunched-over figure, limping toward her, interrupts her lewd musings. Asuka's first instinct is to flee to the safety of the arcade. But as he draws closer, she can see through his injuries that it's Kaagi.

"Mein Gott!" she breathes, running over to him. He tries to smile, even though it hurts.

"I… I got mugged," he tells her. She looks around for help but he shakes his head. "I'll be… I'll be okay… but can we call that cab, now?"

After taking a taxi home, Asuka lets Kaagi lean on her for the long walk from curb to the apartment. During the trip, the shock of seeing him bruised and bloodied had worn off. Consequently, she's been feeling the urge to complain about having to help him. But then she reminds herself that his weight on her shoulders is actually bringing her closer to her goal. And instead of complaining, she smiles graciously, and gives him a look of sympathy that's more sincere than she'd admit to herself.

Inside the apartment, it's dark, cold, and quiet. Shinji and Pen-pen are already asleep, and so is Misato, though Asuka understandably assumes that she hasn't returned yet. Asuka assists Kaagi in navigating the through the dark, all the way to the bathroom. Once there, he starts the water running and grabs a washcloth to clean the cuts on his face.

"I'll get some ice from the kitchen," Asuka tells him. "Why don't you meet me in my room, so we don't wake anybody up?" Kaagi just nods, still a bit dazed, and Asuka lingers, long enough to see him strip off his shirt. She exhales at the sight of his back and chest, enjoying his physique for a moment, despite herself and the giant, purple bruises on him.

"And don't forget to brush your teeth," she adds, hoping she isn't being too overt. Still, if she's going to entice him into kissing her, she'd prefer to be safe than sorry.

After gathering ice and wrapping it in a hand-towel, Asuka rushes to her room. She takes off her dress and puts on a shirt, leaving a few buttons strategically undone. Then, she turns on a small desk-lamp and sits on her bed, in just her shirt and panties, waiting for Kaagi.

Soon, her door slides open and he enters. His shirtless form, moving toward her in the dim light, sends a tingle of excitement down her spine. She has no time to contemplate the ramifications of that as he sits down beside her. With one hand, she presses the wrapped ice against Kaagi's forehead. Then, deliberately, she places the other hand on his knee. He smiles at her, and she's sure the "trap" has worked.

"I wonder if this is what it's like," he muses, "having a real mother."

_Crap!_ she thinks. _How the hell did we get off track here? But I guess it's good that he's opening up, he's sharing. Maybe I can still salvage this…._

"What do you mean?" she asks.

"Well… it's not something I like to talk about," he says. But Asuka is acting so unlike her usual self, so concerned and interested, that he continues anyway. "See, I'm… I'm adopted. The Chudas aren't my birth parents.

"Now, my Dad, Mr. Chuda… he's always been like a real father to me. But Mrs. Chuda… she never treated me like I was her son. She never missed an opportunity to remind me that I wasn't. They'd had me since I was a baby, but she never really accepted me, you know?"

_Yes…_ Asuka thinks. Like sunlight penetrating clouds, her thoughts scream, _Yes, I do know! Neither one of my Mamas…neither of them wanted me…._

It surprises her how Kaagi's story truly touches her, in a place she'd stopped feeling pain a long time ago. She can't keep her true emotions off her face any longer, but they finally match what she's been pretending up until now. She really does care about his feelings. This situation, that was so contrived, has suddenly turned into something real, and she doesn't know what to do now.

"I did get to know my real Mom," Kaagi continues. He can see the sincere sympathy in Asuka's eyes, and so his words just keep pouring out. "She was already an unmarried mother of one when I came along… just another bad decision on her part. She knew that she couldn't handle two kids on her own, so she gave me to the Chudas, who were friends of hers. When she wasn't busy working, she'd visit.

"We moved to America when I was four, though. The Chudas were citizens, so they were just moving "back". Mom would call sometimes, and visit when she could, which wasn't a lot. She was still so busy…. Don't misunderstand; it was the right decision for her to give me up. I know it would have been more than she could handle. Because… when I was nine, she… she killed herself."

With tears welling up, Asuka can think of only one thing to do. She throws her arms around him, and she kisses him. It's a hungry, frantic kiss that starts forceful and just grows harder. Kaagi responds in the only way possible, kissing her back just as hard, with previous anger and present desire married together in a violent passion.

The kiss lasts and lasts. They press their lips together endlessly, only stopping for seconds to breathe before plunging back in. They kiss until it hurts, and maybe because it hurts, for sharing pain is what brought them together. Asuka is lost to the ecstasy of giving true emotion to another person, and getting it back in kind. When Kaagi moves from her lips to kiss her neck, she whispers "ja" and even "mein Liebe", before kissing him back the same way.

Although equally swept up in the rapture of the moment, the purity that Asuka is experiencing escapes Kaagi. His response to her embrace was motivated not only by a true connection with her, but also by the fact that kissing her would hurt Shinji and Rei. As he thinks on it more, however, he realizes that he wants to hurt Shinji worse than just this act of betrayal could. And he's not so sure that he wants to hurt Rei at all anymore.

With sad terror, he becomes conscious of his memory of Rei's kiss being slowly wiped away as he continues to kiss Asuka. He can't recall exactly what she felt like, how she smelled, or how she tasted. And he doesn't want to lose that memory, because it goes deeper than what he's feeling now. Kissing Asuka is indeed like a banquet for a starving man, but kissing Rei had fed a hunger that was more than just physical.

After countless minutes spent joined together, they pause for breath once more, but when Asuka leans in again, Kaagi backs away. The kiss had happened as much because he yearned to hurt as it had because he yearned to care. But however he ends up feeling about Shinji or Rei, he's sure that there's one person he has no desire to hurt. She's looking at him now, with palpable desperation. It makes him disgusted with himself, that he could use her this way.

"I'm sorry… I can't do this," he says, getting up to go. Asuka just sits on the bed, speechless, watching the door slide closed behind him. She doesn't know whether to cry or scream. So, she lays her head down and stares blankly at the wall, feeling lost in confusion over what had just happened.

The confusion doesn't last, though. She turns her head and sobs quietly into her pillow, feeling like she wants to die, until sleep finally comes.

To Be Continued…

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Next Episode Preview:

Anger and jealousy set four of the pilots at each other's throats. Two of them are off to America, while the remaining children must defend the city from yet another attack. Down by two, and downed further by broken morale, can they hope to prevail? Find out in our next episode: "Rei Strikes/Fly Me to the Moon"


	7. Episode 4, part 1

**Evangelion: New Testament**

Episode: 4

"Rei Strikes!"

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_Unit-03's entry plug… grab it… crush it…_

_LCL all over my hand… Toji's blood?_

_Kaworu in my hand… squeeze him… crush him…_

_His blood… all over my hand…_

_Asuka, unconscious…grab it… squeeze it…_

_It's all over my hand…_

_Rei's straddling me… we're naked…_

_I'm straddling Asuka… I'm choking her…_

_I hate Asuka! I hate her because I love her…_

_I love her, but she doesn't love me…_

_I love Rei, but she loves someone else…_

_I love Misato, but I can't have her…_

_I love Kaworu BUT I KILLED HIM!_

_Make it stop! _(pain)_ Make it stop! _(death)_ Make it stop! _(shame)_ Make it stop! _(desire)_ Make it stop! _(jealousy)_ Make it stop! _(fear)_ Make it stop! _(hope)_ Make it stop! _(hate)_ Make it stop! _(lust)_ Make it stop! _(anguish)_ Make it stop! _(ecstasy)_ Make it stop! _(sorrow) _Make it stop!_

_Someone, please make it stop!_

"You will…." _Kaworu?_

Shinji wakes from the nightmare in a cold sweat, immediately sensing a change in his environment. No one is sleeping on the floor. The sleeping bag itself is also gone. And somewhere in the apartment, Misato is yelling angrily.

"I don't care!" he hears Misato screaming. "If you can't give me the names of who was supposed to be watching the pilots last night, connect me with someone who can…! Don't you dare tell me that Section 2 personnel records are classified, when one of my pilots got the shit beat out of him! I'm going to have their asses, and I'll have yours too, if you don't give me some answers! And don't put me on… hold. You bitch!"

_Wow,_ Shinji thinks, rubbing his chin, _it was just a little bruise._

Peeking into the kitchen, he sees Misato slamming down the phone. Yoshi is there, too, sitting at the table. He wears a concerned frown, looking even more pensive than usual. Shinji stays in the hallway, watching them as they talk.

"I appreciate it, but you didn't have to come over," Misato says to Yoshi. "I just called you on an impulse. You seem to have a really good rapport with all of the kids, and I didn't know what else to do."

"It's okay," he says. "I was already planning to drop by. I thought I should apologize in person, for giving you the wrong impression about last night."

"Wrong impression?" Misato asks innocently, while blushing guiltily.

"Yeah," says Yoshi scratching his head. Misato just bats her eyes, trying to appear ignorant. "Well, never mind, I guess…. So, on the phone, you said something was wrong with Kaagi?"

"Well, earlier this morning, I woke up to the sound of him packing. He got beaten up last night, really bad. But all he would tell me was that he "got mugged", which was obviously a lie, and that he was moving out. The Vice-Commander called, too, just before Kaagi left. He told me that Kaagi's slated to go on tomorrow's mission now, in place of Asuka. I told Kaagi, and he just got more depressed."

"I would say to just give him some space, some time to cool off, and let him talk when he's ready. But if he's leaving tomorrow… I just don't know. Where is he staying in the meantime?"

"He's going to the apartment in the Geo-front where Shinji was supposed to live, before I insisted he move in here."

"That's also where the Fifth Child stayed, isn't it?" Yoshi asks. Misato nods.

_No!_ Shinji thinks. _He can't have that room… sleep in that bed! _His indignation swells, knowing that the room… the bed… should have been his to sleep in, not Kaagi's. He's not ready to admit to himself that he wants it all the more for Kaworu having been there. But still, the thought of Kaagi's hairy body sullying the place where Kaworu slept makes Shinji feel ill.

"I've been wondering about the Fifth," Yoshi says. "Kaagi's been asking to run a combat sim against the 17th Angel, but my clearance isn't high enough to access any record pertaining to it or the Fifth Child. All I know is that the Fifth Child died somehow during the attack."

"You don't know the whole story?" Misato asks quietly.

"Nope. Only the people who were actually there know what happened. It's all sealed, like I said."

_That makes sense,_ thinks Misato. _The general public still doesn't know exactly what it is that's been attacking us, or that we call them "Angels". And after the 14th Angel's attack, we were running a skeleton crew while the Command Center was being repaired. So, even a lot of our people don't know what really happened with Kaworu. All these secrets upon secrets…. And I just thought no one ever talked about Kaworu out of respect for Shinji…._

"Shinji!" Misato exclaims. She'd only just noticed him standing there.

"Morning, Shinji," says Yoshi, but the teen in the hallway doesn't reply.

"I'm glad you're finally up," says Misato. "I wanted to ask you about Kaagi."

"Why would I know anything?" Shinji asks angrily. Misato is taken aback by his harsh response, which continues just as startlingly. "Are you accusing me…? I didn't do anything to him, not a damned thing! Just… just leave me alone!"

_She doesn't care about my feelings!_ he thinks, storming back to his room. He knows he was unkind, but that doesn't matter to him right now. _She never gave a damn about Kaworu! Why the hell should I care how she feels?_

"What was that?" whispers Misato, trying to hide the fact that Shinji's words hurt her.

"I don't know," admits Yoshi. "But something's going on. If you want, I can try to pull him and Kaagi off tomorrow's mission. Maybe we can sort this out."

"No, I'm sure they'd like to get out of Tokyo-3 for a change," Misato lies. The only thing she's really sure of is that she's out of her depth, and she wouldn't mind putting off dealing with it as long as possible. "The trip might do them good."

"It's your call," Yoshi says. "You're their guardian." Misato wonders if he added the last part just to make her feel guilty.

In his room, Shinji's ringing cell phone disturbs his brooding. He answers, and is shocked by the voice on the other end.

"Shinji," says his father, "I need you to meet me this afternoon at three o'clock. The usual place."

"All… all right," Shinji answers. The line clicks, and then is silent. Shinji lies back on his bed, trying to imagine any possible reason his father could have for wanting to meet with him. Outside his room, Asuka Langely Soryu goes walking by.

A deceptively cheery, though always aloof Asuka strides into the kitchen, causing Misato more confusion.

_Did someone switch all their brains last night?_ she wonders_. Kaagi's depressed, Shinji's sniping, and Asuka's carefree…. I'm scared enough by their behavior, but not knowing why they're acting this way is worse._

"Good morning, Misato," Asuka says brightly, "and you too, Dr. Kaiu."

There was once a time when she'd have found Yoshi attractive, and vied for his attention. After Kaji's unexplained disappearance, however, she'd been put off the thought of older men. She'd felt abandoned, like before, with her mother. And now, the thought of the young men who both abandoned her last night makes her burn with anger. But she keeps all her real emotions off her face with her well-worn mask of arrogance.

That mask had been torn off, when she gave in to the desire to open up to Kaagi. Awaking this morning, though, it was back, only slightly askew. But then she noticed the telltale signs of her encounter with Kaagi, in the form of red welts on her neck from his sucking. Knowing that she'd achieved her vindictive goal, the mask had slipped perfectly back into place.

She would not cry again.

But as for Rei… tomorrow, Asuka would see what could be done about that.

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"Why have you not returned to us… to me?"

A hand strokes the curved glass that makes up the majority of the circular room's wall. Behind the glass, yellow liquid bubbles. The man who spoke frowns sadly at the things floating in the liquid. A casual observer might not call them "things", but the man knows better.

"More importantly, where have you gone?" he asks aloud. His hand wavers over the remote control he holds. With one press of a button, he could destroy them all, reducing them to the raw matter from which they were formed. But he can't. While their continued existence is a testament to his failure, to destroy them would be to admit defeat.

"While there is life, there is hope," he says, locking out the controls on the remote. The lights in the holding-tank shut down, hiding endless identical faces. The door to the room opens, and the man exits.

"Chairman Kiel," an aide calls, rushing up to him. "The Committee has called an emergency meeting."

"Regarding?" Kiel asks, heading to his office.

"The Lance Retrieval mission," says the aide. "Some of the Committee members are questioning the involvement of Ikari…."

"Their protests were expected," Kiel says, "but this late…? The Project commences tomorrow."

"I understand, sir."

"No, you don't," Kiel says matter-of-factly. The aide stops, and the Chairman enters his office alone.

At his desk, Kiel opens a global communication channel. The channel is secret, encoded, and unable to be tapped. And unlike the many other virtual conferences he conducts daily, he expects these security features to actually work. The black monoliths appear around him, one by one. He feels almost Arthurian, presiding over this circle of his assembled contingents.

"There is unrest in the Committee," SEELE 04 begins immediately. "Your involving Ikari in the Lance Retrieval Project is questionable at best. Especially after releasing both the Fifth and Sixth Children to him…"

"Sending Kaworu to NERV was a calculated risk," Kiel states.

"One we have paid dearly for," 06 adds.

"Sending the newly acquired Sixth Child to Ikari to spur his cooperation in the Retrieval mission was another," Kiel continues. "But we have yet to see the fruits of it. May I remind you all that these decisions were reached by unanimous vote? "Unrest", as you call it, at this stage is unacceptable."

"Perhaps we are being premature," interjects 05. "When the Lance is returned-"

"If the Lance is returned," interrupts 03.

"Indeed," adds 07. "And even so, what is to stop Ikari from using it again?"

"We have Ikari in check," Kiel assures them. "The next move is his. And he would not dare move against us."

As the Committee continues to argue, an additional monolith appears in the center of their circle. The unexpected arrival brings a hush to the meeting room. The new monolith reads simply: Sound Only, Source Unknown.

"Well, gentlemen, if I may interrupt this discussion about your Lance problems…," says a female voice, obviously amused by her own double entendre. "…I would like to table a motion."

"Who are you?" Kiel asks. A long political career saves him from expressing shock or outrage.

"I move," she continues, ignoring the question, "that all of you are full of crap. Anyone second that?"

The intruder's monolith basks in the ensuing silence.

"I liked the chess metaphor, Mr. Chairman, I really did," she says. "It clearly illustrates that you don't even know what game you're playing. This is a card game. You bluffed the last hand, and you lost your shirts. Now, Ikari holds all the cards… except mine. And mine trumps them all. Care to deal me in?"

"What could you possibly have to offer that we would want?" Kiel asks, while initiating a trace on the signal.

The answer makes Kiel halt the trace, and smile broadly.

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A few of NERV's staff turn and stare as Kaagi Chuda drags his tired body past them through the hallways of the HQ. He ignores their bemused looks, trudging grimly onward to his destination. He carries his sleeping bag under one arm, and his duffel bag in his opposite hand. He'd spent the whole night on Misato's couch, barely able to sleep, and so he's only barely awake now.

Dark thoughts of hurting Shinji still shadow him, as they had since he went into their room to gather his things. But to attack Shinji while he slept would be as cowardly as Shinji sending his father to fight for him. And Kaagi refused to act like a coward, especially after the Commander had called him one.

The area where his new apartment lies seems like an architectural afterthought. It's conveniently close to the plug-boarding rooms, but it's not near, or on the way, to anything else. Opening the door with his key-card, only blackness greets him. That, and a peculiar smell, not normally associated with a place that had been lived in.

Kaagi enters, but before he can find the light-switch, he's grabbed around the neck in a firm headlock. His belongings fall where he stands. Exhausted and already beaten, he goes limp as he's dragged further inside. He's taken to an adjoining room, where computer banks and instrument panels provide the only illumination.

"We've got a visitor!" he hears a man's voice shout. It's coming from the person holding him. The grip around his throat eases, and he drops to the floor. Swiftly, his hair is grabbed and something cold and metal is pressed against the back of his neck. To Kaagi, this all feels like some darkly comic nightmare, and he wonders with nonchalance if what he feels is a gun.

"There's no way SEELE could've traced my signal!" he hears a woman reply. "And get some lights on…! If someone's already found us, we don't need to be frugal about power consumption anymore, do we?"

_That voice…,_ Kaagi thinks. _This can't be real…_

Suddenly, bright lights flood the room, banishing the darkness. Kaagi shuts his unadjusted eyes to protect them from the glare. When he opens them, all he can see is the floor, as the man holding his hair has forced his head down.

"Oh my God… put the gun away!" the woman orders. Kaagi doesn't know what she means when she adds, "I'll cover up the cylinder… he doesn't need to see that."

Kaagi feels the metal object reluctantly removed. He senses someone approach from his front, smack away the hand that holds his hair, and then kneel down to embrace him. He recognizes the smell of her, and the way her arms wrap around him. Now he's sure that the voice was hers, and not some trick of his mind. Relief washes over him, and he can't stop himself from crying.

"Shhh," she says, "it's all right now…. But… can you tell me what happened to you? Why are you here in the Geo-front?"

"I moved out of Misato's this morning," Kaagi says as he chokes back sobs. "I can't…. It's all Shinji's fault…!" The woman strokes his head, but the man with the gun eyes Kaagi warily. Eventually, Kaagi stops crying, but he's still holding onto the woman tightly. She kisses his head, then looks up.

"Can we trust him to keep our presence here a secret?" the man asks bluntly. "He is one of the pilots." The woman nods.

"He's also my brother," she reminds him.

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Ikari Yui, 1977-2004.

Shinji reads the words and numbers, over and over, wondering how they could be all that's left to mark his mother's existence. He hasn't much time to stand and wonder, though. A NERV transport helicopter has already begun its slow descent behind him.

_Why am I here?_ he asks himself as his father approaches. _All he had to do was call, and I came. No questions, no arguments, just like I always have. I guess… I guess I'm just used to it. No matter what I do, he's always going to treat me the same. And I'm going to keep letting him, because I can't let go of the hope that one day, things will change._

"You're probably wondering why I've called you here," Gendo Ikari says to his son.

_No,_ Shinji realizes, _I'm not._ But he just continues looking at his mother's marker.

"I need your help," Gendo says, surprising him. Shinji turns to look at his father, whose narrowed eyes glare intently at the marker in front of him. "We need your help."

"We…?" Shinji asks.

"I must ask to do something," Gendo says. "A secret task, which is why I've brought you here, where we won't be heard…. When you go to the moon to recover the Lance of Longinus, you will be instructed to return with it to the lunar landing vessel. Instead, I want you to hurl it into space, away from the Earth."

"But… the Lance is what saved Asuka! You want me to just get rid of it?" Shinji can't believe he's talking like this, out loud. He remembers shouting at Misato in much the same way, just this morning.

"If you refuse, I can replace you, as I replaced the Second Child with the Sixth," Gendo tells him. "I don't expect you to want to do this. I know you don't pilot the Evangelion willingly. And that is because you foolishly allow your personal feelings about me to affect your motivations. But I am not making this request only for me."

Shinji understands now that privacy wasn't the only reason his father summoned him here. Though Gendo hasn't said it directly, Shinji can tell whom else that this "something" is for. It's odd to him that he can know his father's thoughts like this, but still not feel he knows the man. It frightens him a little, too, because it might mean that he's becoming more like his father

_Why am I questioning him now? _Shinji wonders._ And why did I yell at Misato this morning? Is it because it's easier? I hate Kaagi, so I don't care what he thinks about me. I hate my father, too. And I was so mad at Misato…. Is that where this path is leading me?_ _If I don't care what anyone thinks, they can't hurt me… but won't that make me just like my father…?_

He feels like a helpless child, and he knows that's how his father sees him. But he also knows he must make a decision.

"I won't do it," Shinji says, staring hard at his mother's marker. "Not for you. But I'll do it for her." He hopes, for a split second, that this token act of defiance will bring him respect in his father's eyes. But Gendo Ikari's eyes remain empty and hard.

"As long as it's done," Gendo says, walking back to the chopper. Shinji catches a glimpse of Rei in the helicopter window, like the last time he visited his mother's grave. She looks, and somehow feels, more distant to him than the last time. She's barely visible through the clouds of sand that the rotors are kicking up. Soon, the transport ascends, taking Rei and his father away.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The next morning, dawn is barely breaking on the horizon as Shinji stands next to a barren airstrip. Misato had dropped him off a few minutes ago, then left quickly. No words had passed between them. Not since his outburst yesterday morning. It was just like after Kaworu's death, all over again. Neither knew what to say to the other, and they allowed their silent guilt to fill the air instead of words.

A private jet sits idling out on the tarmac, awaiting its passengers. After a few more minutes, Kaagi comes jogging up to join Shinji. The normally boisterous young man looks dourly forward at the plane and not at all at Shinji.

_He wasn't hurt that badly,_ Shinji thinks pettily as he looks Kaagi up and down. He notices that Kaagi's glasses are a different pair than the ones he usually wears, and wonders if the others had been lost in the attack.

"Are you looking at my neck?" Kaagi asks defensively. Shinji hadn't been, but he now notices the red welts on the other boy's neck.

"How did you get those?" Shinji asks. He truly doesn't know, but his only motivation for asking is to further upset Kaagi.

"I'm allergic to chicken-shit cowards," Kaagi says. With sarcastic a smirk, he adds, "I wonder what could be causing the flare-up?" Shinji doesn't fully understand and is at a loss for a comeback, but the jet's stairs are starting to lower anyway.

Once Kaagi and Shinji are aboard and seated, the plane lifts off. As it flies into the rising sun toward America, the two boys sit marinating in resentment. The close quarters, coupled with the long journey, will turn the situation into a veritable pressure-cooker of animosity. And, left unchecked, things are bound to explode.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"So, did you kiss her?" Kensuke asks Toji.

They had arrived before nearly everyone else, and are in their seats as the rest of the class begins filing in. Rei was here before them, though. There's already a pencil in her hand, but she's staring out the window, as she usually does before the teacher arrives. If Toji didn't think he knew better, he might notice sadness on her face, instead of the usual apathy.

"Ayanami isn't missing as much school as she used to," Toji observes. "In fact, she hasn't been absent at all."

"Of course she has!" argues Kensuke, making a mental note to re-ask his question. "You didn't notice because you were gone all the same days as her."

"Oh yeah…," says Toji.

"So, did you kiss her?" Kensuke goads once more.

"I've never kissed Ayanami!" Toji says, looking scandalized.

"Not her!" exclaims an exasperated Kensuke. "I mean Hikari!"

"A gentleman doesn't discuss such things," Toji says snootily. Kensuke frowns in deep disappointment. He stews at his desk a moment before turning back to talk to Toji again.

"So you didn't kiss her," he ventures.

"I never said that."

"So you did kiss her!"

"Argh! It was just a little peck! Why do you have to go and make such a big deal about it?" Toji notices that he'd spoken louder than he'd meant to. He thanks his luck that neither Hikari nor Asuka have arrived yet, but a group of tittering girls huddled together causes him to sink very low in his seat. "Remind me to pound you!"

Moments later, Asuka and Hikari do walk in. The brown-haired girl keeps her distance as her firey-maned companion zeros in on the quiet girl by the window. It surprises Toji to feel his heart flutter when he notices Hikari standing by the classroom door. And it's also new for him to be able to tell just by looking at her that she's upset.

_Please don't do this, Asuka,_ she thinks. Hikari had actually spoken those words aloud in the hall, when Asuka had shared the tale and the evidence of her encounter with Kaagi. But she wouldn't be dissuaded. It was more than just about hurting Rei, now. Asuka felt this was the only way to reclaim the piece of her heart that she'd accidentally given to Kaagi.

"Hey, Wonder Girl!" Asuka says loudly, walking over to Rei. "I've been meaning to ask… did you have a good time on Saturday? And… do you think Kaagi had a good time, too…? I mean… you either didn't kiss him, or did it really badly. Otherwise, why would he have been kissing me after he walked you home?" Rei looks up impassively.

_I want to slap her face,_ Rei thinks, _for questioning Kaagi's integrity. But is that because I'm afraid that she's telling the truth? And… is that why I slapped Shinji, all those months ago? Deep down, did I know there was truth in what he said about his father?_

"Come on, First Child," Asuka taunts, "I know you're not that quick, but even you must know it wasn't Shinji who gave me these." She pulls down her collar, as if the marks on her neck weren't already showing. Her euphoria grows as she sees Rei's calm veneer begin to crack. By now, the whole class is watching this exchange.

In Rei's peripheral vision, all the onlookers look like Kaworu, smiling lasciviously. Her head fills with memories of violence, spurred by her recollection of slapping Shinji. She recalls sending the Lance through the heart of the 15th Angel. She recalls splitting open the core of the 18th. She recalls blasting away at the snake-like body of the 16th.

_How can I remember that? I died…_ She recalls snapping the neck of the 13th, tearing it limb from limb and bathing the city in blood. _No! That wasn't me!_ She recalls a slap across her own face, weeks ago in an elevator, that went unanswered…. Then, with a determined look normally reserved for stalking Angels, Rei rises from her desk.

"Retract your statements," she tells Asuka evenly. The Second Child balks.

"Well, if you don't believe me, you can ask Kaagi," she says. Asuka can tell, after all this time, she's finally gotten under Rei's skin. She almost doesn't feel ready for her success, but she's gone too far to back down now. "Oh, and while you're at it… you can ask him if he likes kissing me better than he likes kissing a robot like you."

Rei takes a deep breath.

The pencil in her hand snaps in two.

She lets the breath out… as a scream.

The force with which Rei throws herself at Asuka sends them both crashing to the floor. They wrestle, clawing and kicking, with Rei trying to get her fingers around Asuka's throat. Asuka herself pulls no punches in fending Rei off, even throwing a few offensively when possible. The rest of the students just stare, rapt in horrified fascination. Most of them do, at least.

"Stop it!" Hikari commands fruitlessly. Tears run down her frustrated face. They aren't tears for either girl, however, but rather tears for the demise of order in her classroom. And they're tears that Toji won't allow to continue. He stands, and moves to break up the fight.

With her adrenaline ebbing, Asuka feels fear creep into her. She's been screaming, obscenities and unintelligibly, all throughout the fight. But, eerily, Rei hasn't made a sound since her first battle cry, not even when Asuka's nails had drawn blood from her cheek. Desperately, she tries to disentangle her limbs from Rei's in order to stand. Rei stands as well, though. A look of pure hatred contorts her face as she draws her arm back to deliver a devastating punch to an off-balance Asuka.

There's a wet cracking sound as Rei's elbow collides with Toji's nose, behind her. His forward momentum carries his legs out from under him and he falls back, hitting his head on a desk and landing unconscious on the floor. Blood pours from his nose as Rei and Asuka stare, wide-eyed, at the carnage.

"Good shot…," Asuka says numbly.

"Thank you…," Rei replies, snapping out of her bloodlust.

"Somebody, get the nurse!" screams Hikari, running to Toji's side. A couple of kids run out, just as the teacher comes walking in.

"What in blazes is going on here?" he shouts.

An hour later, Rei and Asuka are still waiting outside the principal's office.

Neither has spoken in all this time. Asuka just keeps staring daggers at Rei, while Rei only stares at the floor. Suddenly, Misato comes marching down the hall toward them. She opens her mouth to speak, but whatever she intended to say is replaced by a more immediate question.

"What the hell happened to you two?" she yells. In front of her, Asuka and Rei stand, scratched and bruised. Their uniforms are torn in places and smudged with dirt. For the most part, they're free of bloodstains.

"That bitch attacked me!" hisses Asuka, oozing venom. Misato looks to Rei for a denial, but she doesn't get one. She'd thought, apparently wrongly, that she'd already reached her quota of pilots acting bizarrely today. And there's only one left.

"So where's Toji?" Misato asks.

"She knocked him out cold!" Asuka answers. She ignores Rei muttering "it was an accident" and keeps talking. "Didn't the principal tell you all this when he called you down here?"

"The principal didn't call me," Misato explains gravely. "I came to get you because there's another Angel on the way."

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Episode Midpoint


	8. Episode 4, part 2

Evangelion: New Testament 

Episode: 4 (part 2)

"Fly Me to the Moon"

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Thousands of feet in the air, a plane with the United Nations logo on its tailfin continues its journey from Japan to the United States. The sun gleams off its metal hull as it streaks across land, water, and time zones. Pilot and co-pilot sit stoically at the controls while two brooding boys occupy the small but luxurious cabin.

One boy, however, has now finished his menacing reflections. Kaagi enjoys the dramatic clink of his glasses as he sets them down on a table by his seat. It's the only sound the cabin has heard in hours, besides the omnipresent roar of the engines. Shinji doesn't hear it, though, because of his Walkman's earphones. And his ambivalence, however unintentional, fuels Kaagi's already simmering anger.

"Let's finish it," Kaagi says, loud enough for Shinji to hear over his music. With unconcealed contempt, he looks up at Kaagi standing over him. Putting his music-player aside, he also stands. Kaagi has to back up to accommodate this motion, which Shinji savors childishly.

"Finish what?" he asks with an annoyed air that suggests he already knows, even though he doesn't.

"Our fight," Kaagi explains patronizingly. "Or are you afraid to, since Daddy's not here to do your fighting for you?"

_Come on, give me an excuse…,_ Kaagi thinks. _All I need is a nice, fresh excuse to beat the hell out of you._

"I don't know what you mean," Shinji says, making sure to convey that he doesn't care either.

"You snotty little shit," Kaagi says. "Screw you! I've hated you practically my whole life, but I was willing to try to be your friend. Not you, though. You had to make being your friend just as hard as you could. So frigging standoffish all the time… you think you're so much better, you can't even barely talk to me?"

"_Standoffish"?_ Shinji thinks, outraged. _Maybe I just don't like running my mouth like you! And just because I'm not like you, doesn't mean I think I'm better. I don't think I'm better than anyone. Why would I want to be friends with someone so stupid that he can't see that?_

"I'm sick of your attitude," Kaagi continues. "You yelled at Rei, for God-knows-why. You walked out on your date with Asuka. But then you mope around like the whole world's against you.

"You just don't know how good you have it, Shinji. You're the big hero who's killed most of the Angels! Asuka liked you enough that she asked you out… and Rei still likes you!" Remembering that fact turns Kaagi from angry to almost hysterical.

"You're just pissing away the life that I could've had, if you weren't around!" he screams. "Maybe if your damned mother had died in Second Impact!"

And Kaagi gets the excuse to fight he's been hoping for, as Shinji punches him squarely in the face.

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Warning sirens blare in the Command Center as everyone rushes to their battle-stations. The three members of the bridge crew hover diligently over their controls, while Misato stands pensively behind them.

"Fuyutsuki's coming down here personally," Aoba whispers to Maya. "Commander Ikari is in Tokyo-2 today, hand-picking the airmen who are following Shinji and Kaagi to the States to help with their mission."

"Vice-Commander on the bridge," announces Misato, standing at attention. Aoba, Hyuga, and Maya quickly follow their leader's example.

"As you were," says Fuyutsuki. He looks up at the main view screen, and sighs in awe.

The 19th Angel floats well above the tallest of the city's towers, casting a sizable shadow. It looks like a Manta Ray without a tail, all wings and torso. Sunlight shines through the Angel's translucent body, refracting into rainbows on the streets below.

"Why are there no Evas in the Cage?" asks the Vice-Commander, observing the empty room on a secondary screen.

"Unit-02 should be there," says Misato, but decides to gloss over that fact for now. "Unit-05's pilot… was incapacitated. And Maya's plugging Rei into Unit-06 right now, as per your orders." Lieutenant Ibuki nods to both her superiors, and begins stage-one activation. Almost immediately, a warning buzzer sounds.

"Unit-06 is rejecting the pilot!" Maya tells Fuyutsuki.

"That can't be," he says with quiet disbelief. "It has the same soul as Unit-00…."

"We could try putting her in Unit-05," suggests Misato. But the Vice-Commander shakes his head.

"That one's meant for the Fourth Child," he says, he voice growing more sullen. "We'll have to put her in Unit-01."

"But Unit-01 rejected her the last two times she tried to activate it!" Misato argues. The Vice-Commander leans close to her ear.

"The activation tests were sabotaged," he whispers to her. "Rei's always been able to synch with Unit-01." Backing away from her, he orders, "Lieutenant Ibuki, transfer the entry-plug to Eva Unit-01."

"Why did you tell me that?" Misato whispers back.

"I think I've carried my secrets around too long, Major. It's time I shared some of the burden."

"Oh, too bad, Wonder Girl," comes Asuka's sarcastic voice. "Having trouble getting your engines going? Well, you can sit back and leave this one to me!"

"Where are you Asuka?" asks Misato. "Why isn't Unit-02 on the catapult?"

"I had to get something!" comes Asuka's voice over the com. Misato looks to a monitor showing the Cage and Unit-02 bounds into view, holding a progressive spear.

"Asuka, the Angel isn't in close-combat range," Misato tells her.

"That's what you think," Asuka says, maneuvering her Eva into position. "Unit-02, launch!" The Evangelion goes rocketing up the exit shaft, holding the spear close to its chest like a soldier presenting arms.

"She's disengaged the locking clamps on the catapult!" shouts Hyuga.

The blast-doors on the surface open and Unit-02 shoots into the air like a missile, its umbilical flapping in the wind behind it like the tail of a kite. Asuka watches as the glistening underbelly of the Angel draws nearer. The second that she's close enough, she thrusts the spear upward, with all her momentum behind the strike.

The spear slips through the A.T. Field and pierces the Angel with a wet, sucking sound. The force of the impact brings Unit-02 to a jarring halt, and after dangling in the air a moment, the spear rips free and Asuka plummets back to the ground.

"Got you, you bastard!" Asuka declares while enjoying the freefall. Her Eva lands hard but elegantly, bending its knees to absorb the shock and sending pavement flying in all directions.

As the debris from her landing settles, Asuka feels drops of water falling on her armor. Looking up, she sees a torrent of rain pouring from the wound in the Angel. In the Command Center, the scene looks like an old-time cartoon where a tiny rain-cloud sits above a single character.

The droplets fall all around her, slithering down Unit-02's red body and pooling at its feet. Asuka watches the puddle grow, feeling less and less confident as the water gets deeper. Eventually her Eva is ankle-deep, the downpour has stopped, and nothing of the Angel remains in the sky.

"This doesn't feel right," Asuka says of the liquid all around her. As she does, the water begins to roll back up her legs until Unit-02 is incased in a rippling shell. The shell then contracts, squeezing out any air and conforming to the contours of the Eva's body.

"Get it off!" Asuka hollers as the Angel squeezes her tighter. Two of her four optic lenses crack, followed by several plates of armor. Her Eva claws at the Angel surrounding it, trying urgently to pull off this unwanted second skin.

Unit-01 emerges from an exit shaft nearby, holding a palette-gun, and Rei quickly assesses the situation. Without a word, she shoulders her weapon and fires at Unit-02. The bullets hit with tiny splashes on the Angel, impacting the red armor of the Eva beneath.

"Bitch! I felt that!" cries Asuka angrily, but the squeezing has stopped. A long second passes, and the Angel releases her, stepping threateningly toward Rei. It's now become a carbon copy of Unit-02, but made entirely of water. The Angel takes a pair of clumsy swings with its arms at Unit-01, apparently unused to its new form. Rei rolls her Eva under the wild punches easily, rising to her feet again beside Asuka.

"Give me that!" Asuka yells, grabbing at Unit-01's gun. Rei refuses to relinquish her weapon, and the two Evas struggle for possession. Asuka plants her spear in the ground to get another hand on the gun, accidentally severing Rei's umbilical in the process. "Good! Now I only have to deal with you for another five minutes."

"I don't believe this," cries Misato helplessly. "This isn't a game! If you two don't stop fighting, you're going to die!"

The two girls continue to tug the gun back and forth, while the Water-Eva/Angel turns slowly around to face them. It cocks its head back and forth, as if studying them. Rei watches her time tick down as her fight with Asuka carries on. Then, out of the corner of her eye, Rei sees the Angel tense and, somehow, she knows what's coming.

She lets go of the gun, sending Asuka reeling backward, and then gives Unit-02 a firm kick for good measure. As the red Eva is flung away, the Angel shoots a powerful blast of water through the space where it stood, tearing up the street instead.

Now, Rei finds herself dodging the blasts as the Angel turns its attention to her. She's fast, but the Angel eventually matches her timing and manages to clip her with one jet of liquid. Stumbling from the first, she's hit solidly with another blast, and Unit-01 flies limply through the air, knocking the top off one tower before skidding across the ground into another.

The rubble from the second building has barely settled when the Angel leaps onto Unit-01. It uses one hand to bash the purple Eva's skull against the street repeatedly, while tearing off its chest-plate with the other. Watching from the bridge, Misato can't suppress a gasp as the Angel's arm turns into an icy spear, ready to impale Unit-01's exposed heart.

Suddenly, a thunderous staccato rhythm echoes through the city, and the Angel's ice-arm is ripped to pieces. Its head turns like a cresting wave, pointing toward the source of the sound. The battered shell of Unit-02 stands, unsteadily, holding the palette-gun. The barrel smokes, and the last of the shell-casings crash to ground.

"She doesn't die until I'm finished with her!" Asuka snarls. Her target snarls back with a sound like a whirlpool.

Another arm flows out from the Angel's main body, replacing the shattered one. Then, both arms extend straight at Unit-02, solidifying into spikes. Asuka can only bring the gun to bear on the spike aimed for her heart, blasting it away. The other arm skewers her right shoulder and then splits into two, replacing the one lost to the latest hail of gunfire. With both of its hands now imbedded in Unit-02, the Angel pushes them apart, tearing the Eva's arm from its socket.

"Hyuga," Misato asks, "are these attacks causing the Angel to lose any appreciable mass?" The young Lieutenant shrugs, shaking his head hopelessly as he searches the sensor array for any answer.

Rei lies in the twisted wreckage of Unit-01, bleeding from her head. In the harsh, red emergency lighting, she can see the battery clock flash 00:00:00 mockingly. Asuka's screams tear sporadically through the com speakers, but Rei can't see anything.

"What's the status of the pilots?" asks the Vice-Commander.

"Asuka's taken a pounding, but her vitals are still strong," says Maya. "It's Rei who's weakening."

_I feel myself slipping away,_ Rei thinks. _I can't tell what's "me" anymore. I'm not human …(?) I'm not an Angel…(?) but what am I? "How can he set his synch ratio at any level he chooses?" Misato wondered about Kaworu. Did I hear her say that? I don't even know what thoughts are my own. But I know what I have to do._

"Rei!" calls Fuyutsuki. "Are you all right? Please respond."

"I'm sorry, Professor," Rei says softly. Fuyutsuki feels his heart drop. "Tell everyone that I'm sorry…."

"No, don't!" he yells. Desperately, he turns to Maya. "Can we disable the auto-destruct from here?"

"She's not engaging the A-drive," Maya says. "She's… oh my god…." Maya points a shaking finger at the read-out for Rei's synch ratio. It's already above two-hundred percent and climbing higher.

"Sever the neural links now!" cries the Vice-Commander.

"I can't! The ratio's climbing too fast!"

Unit-01's eyes flash, its maw opens, and an inhuman howl resounds through the Command Center.

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"Break it up!" yells the co-pilot. "Break it up now!"

He has to force himself between the two boys, shoving each of them backward in opposite directions, just to get them to stop hitting each other. Their faces are red, bloodied, and will surely have a few bruises formed before the plane lands. Kaagi looks far worse, having already been beaten once before. But neither boy is strong enough to have done serious damage to the other.

"I don't know what this is all about, but it's stopping right now!" the co-pilot continues. "I can have you two thrown in the brig when we land. Am I going to have to do that?"

The two boys crawl into chairs on opposite sides of the cabin. The co-pilot looks to each, and they shake their heads in turn. He nods, satisfied. Before returning to the cockpit, he gets Shinji and Kaagi some ice from the mini-bar for their wounds. They sit for a long time, too exhausted and aching to move. They also find that they're too tired to hate.

"I'm sorry," Kaagi says quietly. "For what I said about your mother…."

"Thanks," Shinji says.

Worn out from their fighting, they settle into a sleep that lasts the remainder of the flight.

While still a long way from becoming friends, they're perhaps a little further away from being enemies.

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_Great. I'm in the hospital again, _Asuka thinks sourly, upon waking. There's an I.V. running into the back of her hand, but at least she's not hooked up to any machines, like the last time. The place reeks of sterility, however there is a faint fragrance present that she finds familiar. Looking over, she sees Misato sitting in a chair by the wall.

"I'm glad you're finally awake," she says, standing and walking to Asuka's bedside.

"Yeah," Asuka says. "And, since I'm alive, too, I guess Wonder Girl saved the day again."

"That's right," says Misato quietly, remembering the horror of the berserk Eva. "We're still analyzing all the data, but somehow she was able to physically damage the Angel." She remembers watching Unit-01 clawing and biting into the watery Angel. Blood had poured out of its wounds in both directions, spilling over Unit-01's armor as well as seeping into the Angel's body. By the time it was defeated, it had turned from translucent to a muddy red.

"Good for her," Asuka says bitterly.

"No, not good," says Misato with a touch of anger. "Rei was absorbed into Unit-01, just like Shinji was when he fought the 14th Angel. No one really knows what the odds are that she'll be coming out, either. And before you say one more thing, I have two things to say to you.

"First… if you ever bring a personal problem into battle with you again, and risk all our lives with it, including your own, you're done. And second… if you hadn't saved Rei from the Angel, none of us may have survived. This victory is yours as much as it is hers. Do you understand both things I've just said?"

Asuka looks up at Misato for a while, then turns her eyes downward and nods.

"Good," says Misato, relieved. She does her best to put aside worrying about Rei and stay optimistic, for her own sake as well as Asuka's. Brightening, she continues, "So let's celebrate that victory, okay? The boys are gone through the weekend at least. I thought that after school on Friday, we could rent some movies, load up on candy, and just get all girly. Just you and me, how's that sound?"

"That sounds…," Asuka starts. (_Lame? _she thinks._ Or maybe stupid? Or maybe… or maybe I don't really feel that way at all…._) "That sounds good," she finishes. And though it's only very small, she smiles.

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Shinji sits in an observation room, watching out the window as the space shuttle is prepared for launch. The sky is still the deep, navy blue of early morning with no sun yet to be seen. But the work lights on the crews' vehicles, and on the launch gantry, let him see the all the workers scrambling to make ready for the mission.

A few days of slap-dash training and fitness tests are now behind him, and he'll be leaving the planet in a matter of hours. It's a difficult prospect for even an Eva pilot to grasp, though. He's seen old footage and pictures of the Americans' astronauts and shuttles certainly, but the ship in front of him bears only a passing resemblance to those pre-Impact forays into space. He'd been told it was the largest ever built, and it would have to be to hold an Eva.

"It's quite an achievement," says a man, following Shinji's gaze out the window. Shinji turns to see the man taking a seat next to him. He's an elderly man, with white hair, but he wears a futuristic-looking visor, perhaps to aid failing eyesight. He turns to Shinji and smiles down at him.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Shinji Ikari," the man says. "My name is Lorenz Kiel. I'm the chairman of a U.N. advisory committee. Specifically, we advise on… shall we say, the "situations" you have to deal with."

"It's… good to meet you, too," Shinji says lamely. The old man's warm smile quells his nervousness somewhat, and he gives a tiny smile of his own.

"You seem nervous, but you needn't be," Kiel tells him. "There's no safer place to be than within an Evangelion."

"Major Katsuragi told me that once," Shinji says. "But I've never piloted Unit-07 before."

"Well, only Unit-07 can survive the vacuum of space. It has the D-Type equipment, for operation in extreme environmental conditions. Of course, the shoulder pylons had to be removed just to fit it in the shuttle's cargo bay. I can't say why, but it amuses me that it's packed in there in the fetal position."

A call over the intercom requests mission personnel to assemble at the launch gantry. Shinji shuffles uncomfortably, makes an apologetic face, and then rises to go.

"I know you're leaving soon, but I've something to ask of you first," Kiel says. Shinji's small smile disappears as he's reminded of the talk he had with his father.

"Yes, sir?" he asks respectfully.

"I wanted to ask you to forgive me," Kiel says. Shinji blinks, dumbstruck. "I know that working on this project has taken a tremendous toll on you and your family. You didn't choose to make the concessions that you have, they were forced upon you. And I accept my responsibility for that. But your forgiveness would mean a great deal to me."

"I…," Shinji stammers. "I don't know what to say." Kiel frowns. It's a despondent frown that cuts deep into his wizened face.

"I should have known it wouldn't be that easy," he says resignedly. He stands, and his warm smile returns, but Shinji can see the artificiality in it, now. "We'll meet again, Shinji Ikari. Until then, have a safe journey."

It seems like hours of preparation, suiting up, checking, and re-checking, before Shinji is finally waiting with the crew in the cockpit of the shuttle, minutes away from countdown. Kaagi sits next to him, trying to see the view out the window. They've only had time to sleep and train since arriving here, days ago. Not that either boy was terribly anxious to socialize with the other.

"Only a few days back home in the States, now I'm leaving again," Kaagi says to himself. Shinji recognizes his next breath as preparation for singing. "So, bye-bye, Miss American Pie. Drove my Chevy to the levy, but the levy was dry. And good ole boys were drinking whiskey and rye, singin' this'll be the day that I die… this'll be the day that I die…."

"God, that's depressing, kid," one of the astronauts radios back. "Don't you know "Rocket Man" or something?"

"I do," Kaagi replies thoughtfully. "I wonder why I picked the song I did…?"

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"Where's the food?" Ritsuko asks innocently as Gendo Ikari enters her cell. He stops only a step or two inside the doorway. As usual, a spotlight and the NERV logo are the only lights within.

"This is your last opportunity to answer my questions," he threatens ambiguously. "There appears to be some merit to Katsuragi's theories that the old men are moving against me. If you know anything about SEELE's agenda, or their plans, you must tell me now."

"Sorry, Gendo," she whispers, "but the price of information has gone up. Dinner won't be enough to satisfy me, now." He turns his head a fraction, showing guarded curiosity.

"I need you to touch me," she says. She's not pleading with him. She's facing him down. "Come on! Touch me like you've longed to, every time you come in here. Touch me like you used to. I know you still want me."

"You're wrong," he tells her.

"Too bad," she says airily. "You might have figured it out sooner, if you did."

And with that, she vanishes.

Gendo Ikari bolts from the room, jamming his hand against the lighting controls. Returning to the fully illuminated cell, he finds only an empty chair. A holographic projector sits in the unused food dispenser on the far wall. Gendo angrily knocks it off its perch, and an afterimage of Ritsuko flickers in the air before the battered machine gives out.

"Commander Ikari to Security," he radios. "The prisoner from Isolation 4 has escaped. I have no doubt she was aided by one of the bridge crew. I want the accomplice arrested, or dead, if you encounter resistance."

"Who is the accomplice, sir?" comes the reply.

_Damn it,_ thinks Ikari. _What was the girl's name?_

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Like a forgotten toy left by a careless child, the Lance of Longinus lays, dust-covered, on the surface of the moon. Shinji had expected to see it speared into the ground, with all the expectant drama of Excalibur. Disappointed to find it like discarded refuse, he pilots Unit-07 toward it with all the fanfare of a janitor tidying up.

Kaagi stands beside him in the plug. Though never stated explicitly, one of the two pilots was always intended as a superfluous backup, just in case. Neither boy wanted to be labeled as such, though, so both insisted on seeing the mission through to the end. One of the Japanese crew took the initiative to decide who would actually be at the controls.

The Lance feels alive in Shinji's hand as he grips it. Not alive like having consciousness, but organic, as if he's holding a living thing's appendage. Its twin spires braid together into a single spike and its body contracts, growing thinner and longer. It's somehow responding to what Shinji intends to do. He lifts it up, over Unit-07's shoulder, and sights a distant star. But he hesitates.

"What are you doing?" asks a confused Kaagi.

_What am I doing?_ Shinji asks himself._ Just doing as I'm told, like I always have. Why? It's because I want others to respect me. If I had quit, all those times before, I would have lost everyone's respect. But I want my father to respect me, too. Why? I don't know! I hate my father! I always have! _

_After he made me attack Toji, I tried to fight back, but he shut Unit-01 down. (I have to make a decision….) I told him I wouldn't throw away the Lance for him, but I'm still going to do it? (I have to make a decision….) He's never respected me. I do what he says, I keep coming back, but it's never good enough! (I have to make a decision….) I hate you, Father! I hate you! I HAVE to make a CHOICE!_

Shinji realizes that if he ever hopes to earn his father's respect… or at least be seen as more than just a child… mere token acts of defiance would no longer suffice.

Lowering the Lance, he sends Unit-07 trudging back to the landing site. In his hand, the Lance telescopes in on itself, becoming thicker but much smaller, about the relative size of a relay-race baton. It gives Shinji a thrilling feeling of control.

"What was that about?" Kaagi asks him.

"I think…," Shinji says hesitantly, "I think I'm growing up."

From one of the shuttle's windows, a Japanese airman that the Commander had sent watches as Unit-07 returns with the Lance. The hum of the umbilical rewinding onto the Eva's generator is all he hears as he reads the sealed orders the Commander had given him. Turning white, he drops the paper, and it floats slowly to the deck.

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Kouzou Fuyutsuki takes a deep breath before stepping from the antechamber into Gendo Ikari's office. He looks down at the envelope in his hand, studying the fibers of the paper from which it's made. He's been holding it for a while. Stalling outside this very door, he's paced back and forth while his hands began to sweat. His sweat now mars the crisp, white exterior of the envelope. But the time has come for his stalling to end.

"What is this?" Ikari asks, taking the envelope from the Vice-Commander as it's offered. He doesn't look at it while opening it, instead choosing to glare up at Fuyutsuki.

"That's my resignation," Fuyutsuki says calmly. Ikari stops in the midst of opening the letter, and places it down on the desk. The Commander stands to look the other man in the eye. Fuyutsuki glances down at the desk between them. It looks larger than it used to.

"There's no coming back from this," Ikari tells him. "You know that."

"I know… but I can't be a part of this anymore. There's too much blood on both our hands. I used to think how lucky it was for my conscience that Akagi stopped Jet-Alone's meltdown to save Katsuragi. All those people in Atsugi that would have died when the robot went critical were saved, too. But that was a lifetime ago, before the sabotage at Second Branch. And now the space shuttle…."

"Tragic accidents all," states Ikari. "Your accusations of sabotage are… disquieting."

"Don't act the fool with me, Gendo!" the older man growls. "I know you better than anyone. I know what we've sacrificed!"

"Then you also know that the Lance could destroy everything we've worked for. Everything Yui worked for. Preventing its return is worth any sacrifice."

"We just lost Rei! We're lucky her four-hundred percent ratio didn't cause Third Impact! Shinji was the last remnant of Yui you had. The Lance wasn't worth it!"

"The point is academic," Gendo says, returning to his seat. "Shinji made his choice."

Fuyutsuki wonders sadly what ever became of the man that Yui Ikari had loved. Had he only been an illusion all along? Or had years of grief buried him under their weight? Either way, all Fuyutsuki can remember is this monster that he's known for eleven years, driven to succeed at any cost and devoid of compassion. And he knows he has to go, now, before he sees that same monster the mirror.

"My last official act before I leave will be to tell Major Katsuragi the news," says Fuyutsuki. "She should hear it from someone who gives a damn."

"As you wish."

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Misato wakes with a pounding headache. She doesn't feel like she has the strength to lift her head from the table, but she doesn't have any inkling to do so, either. As she tries to focus, her first thoughts are questions.

_What time is it…?_ her hazy mind asks. _Did I fall asleep…? Where's Asuka…?_ But the memories come soon after. And she remembers what drove her to this state in the first place.

"_I'm very sorry, Major…",_ she remembers Fuyutsuki's voice on the phone. And her own, six days before… _"No, I'm sure they'd like to get out of Tokyo-3 for a change…. The trip might do them good."_ And Yoshi's…_"It's your call…. You're their guardian… you're their guardian… you're their guardian… you're their guardian…"_

Asuka walks into the quiet apartment, carrying rented movies. She finds Misato slumped over the kitchen table, a nearly empty bottle of vodka within arm's reach. Carefully, she puts down her packages and walks over to her guardian. Misato slowly raises her head to look at Asuka with red, haunted eyes.

"If you've been crying for Rei, I wouldn't waste the time," the girl says, so blasé it makes Misato sick. "She'll come back, just like Shinji did… whether anyone wants her to or not."

"Shut up!" Misato screams. She jumps up from her seat, grabbing Asuka by the shoulders and shaking her violently. "Shut up, you selfish little bitch!"

Asuka hardly feels the tears run down her cheeks. She's terrified. Misato's beautiful face has become a twisted mask of fury. As she stares down at Asuka with bloodshot eyes, Asuka smells the alcohol on her breath. She tries to shrink away, but Misato still holds her shoulders painfully.

"Oh, Asuka…," she says, seeing what she's done. The fury melts away, replaced by unfathomable grief. She kneels down and hugs the stunned girl, sobbing uncontrollably. "I'm so sorry! I'm so sorry…!"

Asuka keeps standing rigidly, frozen with fear. Misato holds her tightly, afraid to loosen her grip even a little. She runs a hand through Asuka's long, red hair, trying to calm her. It does no good, because Misato herself is shaking too hard.

"Oh, Asuka, I'm sorry," she repeats as she cries. "I'm so sorry…. Please don't go. Please don't leave me…."

"I… I won't," Asuka says, finding her voice. This seems to bring Misato to her senses at last.

"I'm so sorry, please let me explain," she begs. "The Vice-Commander called… and there was an accident… some kind of explosion on the space shuttle…"

Asuka can see it coming. As much as she'd like to pretend she doesn't care, she would give anything for Misato to stop. But the words keep crashing down on her like an avalanche.

"Shinji and Kaagi are dead…."

To Be Continued…

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Next Episode Preview:

In death, Shinji finds the peace that eluded him in life. Within Unit-01, Rei finds only torment. When tragedy dashes our hopes for the future, we invariably look to the past for the strength to carry on. But the past holds tragedies of its own… as well as secrets. Next: "Remember the Fallen".


	9. Episode 5, part 1

**Evangelion: New Testament**

Episode: 5

"Remember the Fallen"

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Shinji opens his eyes, and the inky blackness of unconsciousness is replaced by blinding white. It surprises him how quickly his eyes adjust, and how quickly he climbs to his feet. He almost can't remember going through the motions to bring himself from lying down, seconds ago, to standing.

The landscape is shrouded in mists. He can't feel what type of ground is underneath his feet, though he assumes it's a swamp of some kind. He can't fathom any other type of place being this foggy. But looking down only shows him more swirling mists.

"Hello, is anyone there?" he calls out.

His voice flies out into the void. There's no echo, nor does he notice any ambient sound. His voice is all there was to be heard in this strange place. No answer returns to him, either.

_Am I dead?_ he wonders. His voice inside his head sounds just as loud as when he spoke. It's uniquely disorienting. He can't tell if he'd only thought his first question, or accidentally spoken aloud his second.

He tries to remember… the space shuttle, the explosion… but they're just distorted reflections, ripples on the surface of his mind. Worse yet, he doesn't feel like he's looking down on them from above, but rather up from underneath, as if he's drowning in his own depths. And within those depths lie memories forgotten.

_Unit-01 breaks through the hardened Bakelite around it, reaching out for me. Misato died bringing me here. She saved me, but I couldn't save her…. What's Maya screaming about Asuka?_

_I ascend the exit shaft, piloting my Evangelion. Somehow, I know this will be the (last?) time. The Geo-front lies exposed to the heavens. There's a hole where Toyko-3 should be. There's a hole where Asuka should be… a hole in the universe…and a hole in my heart. Nine white Evangelions tear apart the carcass of Unit-02, taking flight with their pieces of the kill._

_It's my turn to kill, now… everyone will die…_

_Born to die, born to kill… I scream._

_NO!_ he thinks, tearing himself from the vision. _I don't want everyone to die! I'm not a killer! _

"Yes, you are. But I forgive you, Shinji." A voice he thought he'd never hear again.

"Kaworu…."

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1999…

Yellow and orange leaves dance on the breeze as two women sit enjoying coffee at an outdoor café. It's a chilly autumn day, and one of the women turns up the collar on her lab-coat to shield her neck from the wind. Her elder companion smiles, shakes her head, and takes another sip of coffee.

"I told you not to cut your hair, Kyoko," she chides playfully. "I liked it better long."

"It was impractical," Kyoko answers. With a laugh, she smiles back across the table, her blue eyes sparkling. She runs a hand through her short, red hair. Naoko Akagi meets her friend's gaze, only to have her look slowly away.

"What's bothering you?" Naoko asks, putting her cup down. "We usually work straight through our breaks. Not that I didn't love it when you asked me out for coffee… but you never have before."

"I'm sorry I haven't before," Kyoko says earnestly. "And I'm sorry for why I finally chose to now."

"What is it?" asks Naoko. She reaches across the table to grasp Kyoko's hand comfortingly. The younger woman makes a show of trying to pull away, but still allows her hand to be taken.

"I had another miscarriage," Kyoko admits quietly. Naoko frowns and nods. She knows all too well about the plight of her young lab assistant. Kyoko Zeppelin Soryu has been trying and failing to get pregnant for some time now.

"I think…," Kyoko starts again, "…I think my husband might leave me over this."

"If he does, you're better off without him," Naoko says bitterly. Kyoko gives her a wry smile. She's always admired her friend's frankness.

"It would be funny if it weren't so tragic, you know? I always hated how my gruff, German father made my mother a virtual slave. But, being a proper Japanese lady, she took everything without complaint. So, clever me, I only dated Japanese men, to avoid my mother's fate…"

"Only to discover that men are men, the world over," Naoko says wistfully.

"Ja," says Kyoko. Her small smile fades as her bottom lip starts to quiver. "But I can't blame him, really. He just wants a baby so badly…. It's not his fault I can't keep one."

"It's not your fault, either!" snaps Naoko.

"I know," she says. "So… I thought you could help me."

"Oh, Kyoko…," the elder woman says sadly. She should have seen this coming, even before an unprecedented invitation to coffee. "You know I can't. All our resources are devoted to Project E. They have been since you joined."

"I know, but… I want to save my marriage, Naoko. A baby could do that. I got into our field to help women like me, who can't get pregnant. I thought that's why you did, too. But that was before Project E took over your life."

"I won't give you one of the pilots, Kyoko, if that's what you're asking," Naoko says sternly.

"Please!" Kyoko says. She's trying not to make a scene, but her eyes are wet with tears. "If you could promise me that, I'd have something to look forward to. That phase of the project doesn't even start until next year. It would keep my husband happy in the mean time… and maybe, with all the pressure off, I could successfully conceive on my own!"

"Damn it, I can't make that promise! Those children will be cursed. SEELE will own them, body and soul, and I won't let that happen to a child of yours."

"Without your help, there won't be any child of mine," the young woman says. Naoko can see the despair smothering her friend and beating her down. She looks so frail, so much older than her twenty-five years, that it breaks Naoko's heart.

"I will help you, Kyoko," she vows. "But I'll find another way…."

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2016, yesterday morning…

Asuka Langley Soryu rubs her eyes, then takes a second look at the girl staring back at her from the mirror. With a sigh, she finds the result to be the same as the first. She still looks like hell. Her eyes are bloodshot with dark rings beneath them. Her posture is hunched, and her hair looks like a fright-wig. As if she had a choice, she vows to never go without sleep again.

Last night, she'd gone to the video store on her way back from school. She'd come home a little later than usual to find Misato drunker than she'd ever seen her before. Then Misato had told her that Shinji and Kaagi were dead. After that, Asuka had made dinner.

Once Misato had been fed and put down for the night, Asuka had tried to watch one of the movies she'd rented, but the weeping from Misato's bedroom was too distracting. She'd gone to her own bedroom, cracked open a textbook, and begun to study. After a couple hours of that, she'd decided to go to sleep herself, but sleep did not come easily.

Errant thoughts had run in and out of her head all night. She thought about how it had almost been her instead of Kaagi on that shuttle. It had occurred to her that Kaagi could have his own room, now that Shinji was dead… except that Kaagi was dead, too. She'd wondered what mementos she'd like to keep of theirs, or what ones they'd have liked her to have. She'd wondered if they'd know it was coming, or if they'd felt any pain.

By about 3 o'clock in the morning, she'd resorted to trying to cry in order to get to sleep. It seemed to her like the only thing she had yet to resolve, and she remembered, in spite of her promise to herself to not cry again, how good it had felt to do it after Kaagi had walked out on her. So she'd purposely thought about all the good times she'd had with both boys. It was a short string of recollections, but she played them over and over, trying to squeeze some emotion out of herself. It was slightly scary to be unsuccessful. Asuka aspires to be cold and unfeeling, in order to shut out the pain, but only on her terms.

A knock at her door brings her back from last night to the present, though lack of sleep is significantly blurring the distinction between those two time periods. She's in no mood to face Misato, but the frustratingly Japanese lack of locks means she won't have a choice, regardless. Rather than fight it, she grumbles permission to come in.

"Oh, wow!" exclaims a surprised Toji, finding Asuka standing in her underwear. She sees the boy in her mirror, then grabs a blanket off her bed, and turns to scream at him as she covers herself.

"Get out of here, Shinji, you sick pervert!" she yells. Toji just stands there, blinking. And Asuka realizes what she's said… that it's not Shinji… and that it will never be Shinji, ever again. That's when she starts to cry.

Toji doesn't know what to do, except to go over to her and hold her. He'd come here to offer condolences, but he never expected to find himself doing this. He hugs her tighter but she doesn't stop crying. Good intentions, and a half-naked girl in his arms, eventually get the better of his common sense, and he does the only other thing he can think of to make her feel better. Slowly, he leans down and kisses her.

_So, this is what Hikari sees in him,_ Asuka thinks as they kiss. _He really is compassionate. And… oh, holy shit, Hikari!_ She slaps Toji so hard that it hurts her hand_. What the hell was I thinking?_

"What the hell are you thinking?" she screams, backing away from him.

"I…," stammers Toji, "I don't know! Oh, crap…. Please don't tell Hikari."

"She won't have to," says Hikari, standing in the bedroom doorway. She lets the vase of flowers she's holding fall to the floor and spill its contents before turning stiffly and walking away.

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"Am I dreaming…? Or am I really dead…?" Shinji asks. He stares back across the mists at Kaworu in the distance. The pale boy with the light hair starts walking toward him, a hint of a smile on his face. It seems to take forever for him to cross the span between them, but when he arrives in front of Shinji, it feels like he's been there all along.

"Such abstractions are difficult to answer, especially here," Kaworu tells him.

"Can I… can I touch you?" Shinji asks. Kaworu closes his eyes, and he feels Shinji's fingers gently caress his cheek. Accidentally, Shinji's thumb brushes against his lips, and he laughs. Shinji jerks his hand back, embarrassed.

"Don't be ashamed," Kaworu says. He reaches out his own hand to Shinji's face, touching him in the same way. His thumb purposely alights on Shinji's lips, and he traces the outline of his mouth before pulling away again. But Shinji knows now that he doesn't want the contact to end.

Heedless, he rushes forward, throwing his arms around Kaworu. He presses his cheek against the other boy's, then the rest of his body, wrapping him in a firm embrace. Shinji smiles wider than he can remember when he feels Kaworu hug him back, just as tightly. He didn't realize how cold he'd felt, until he fell into Kaworu's warmth.

"I don't care if I'm dreaming," Shinji says. He looks into Kaworu's eyes with tears in his own. "I don't care if I'm dead! I just want to be with you. I…

"I love you, too, Kaworu. That's what I wanted to say in your room that night. I was afraid to tell you before, but I'm not now. I love you!"

"But you are still afraid, Shinji," says Kaworu. "You are afraid of others, and the pain they can cause you."

"I don't care about anyone else! If I don't care, they can't hurt me! All that matters is you. I love you and I know that you'll never hurt me."

"Do you mean "again"?" Kaworu asks, and Shinji remembers.

"_You betrayed me! You betrayed the trust I placed in you!"_ Shinji remembers his own words.

"Your place is not here," Kaworu tells him. "It is not your time to die… not before you fulfill the destiny I have shown you."

"You mean… those horrible nightmares? You did that to me?"

"It was necessary for you to understand your role in the coming events." Kaworu tells him. "You must become one with Rei. She and I were made for you, Shinji. But I cannot be with you, now. You must go to her. I have… I will have… I am preparing her for you. Forgive me… time, here, is an abstraction as well."

"No!" Shinji cries. "Please, just let me stay with you, Kaworu!"

"You still have a home you can return to, Shinji. That is still a good fact."

Shinji feels his heart starting to break again. He hasn't let go of Kaworu, but he is no longer being held, and he misses it terribly. Never had he felt so much love returned in the touch of another, except in half-dreamed, half-remembered fantasies of his mother. He still doesn't want it to end.

Angrily, desperately, Shinji grabs Kaworu's face and kisses him. Painful pleasure sears him as Kaworu kisses back. Shinji can't remember if he was breathing before, but he certainly is now. He tries to breathe in all of Kaworu, and exhale his love back to him. It hadn't worked that night with Asuka, but he prays that it will now. He closes his eyes and tries to lose himself in the other boy. But Kaworu's kiss just feels like "goodbye".

The fog seems to lift from around him. He feels like he's breaking the watery surface of his mind that he'd been drowning in. And, as Shinji slowly opens his eyes, he's shocked to discover that the lips he's kissing are no longer Kaworu's.

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2016, yesterday afternoon…

_I hope Asuka's not mad at me for leaving before she woke up this morning, _Misato thinks. She sits at her desk, filling out long-overdue paperwork. Stacks of files and reports she's been meaning to read tower to her right, while the wet, bottom few files of that tower sit marinating at her left, next to an overturned coffee cup.

_I don't even want to know what she thinks about me after last night_, she thinks, putting another document in the miniscule "done" pile. There are about five messages from Yoshi on her phone, urging her in that heartfelt way of his to call back. But she's not going to talk to anyone about the tragedy until she's ready. That's how she deals with things like this.

Unfortunately, a summons from the Vice-Commander cannot be ignored. A glance at her clock shows her that she's expected soon. It hadn't seemed to her that Fuyutsuki had anything further to say, after his call last night. But no sooner had she walked into HQ this Saturday morning, than Lieutenant Hyuga had told her about the appointment.

Upon arriving, Misato strides across the office to the Vice-Commander's desk with a heavy heart. Behind the desk is a high-backed leather chair, facing away so as to hide whoever is seated there. The chair quickly swivels to face Misato, and she gapes at the person revealed in front of her.

"I've always wanted to do that," says the chair's smiling occupant. "I bought this chair especially, and the look on your face was worth every penny."

Seated at the desk, clad in the Vice-Commander's brown uniform, is Ritsuko Akagi.

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2016, three days ago…

Shinji watches the stars out the shuttle's window. They don't swish by, like some sci-fi movie. They're stationary and constant, not even twinkling, because that's the atmosphere's fault. He wonders if Asuka, Misato, or Rei are looking up at these same stars. He's not even sure if it's day or night in Japan right now.

"Hey, kid," one of the astronauts says, tapping him on the shoulder. "Where's the other kid?" Shinji looks up at the man, not comprehending.

"That's not the one that speaks English," another astronaut says. The first man who spoke looks around, annoyed.

"Crap," he says. "Are all the Nips except this one still back in the cargo bay with their robot?" The second astronaut shrugs.

"If they are, why don't you go and get them?" he replies. "It didn't matter where they were when we lifted off from the moon, but I'd like everyone up here for re-entry, in case there're any problems."

"Roger that." The first astronaut sets off, beginning his long trek through the massive spaceship. Unable to have followed any of the conversation, Shinji decides to get up and follow him back toward the cargo bay.

Meanwhile, Kaagi sits at the controls of Unit-07. His eyes are closed, and all his thoughts are of Rei. It feels like her, here inside the entry-plug, and that helps him to remember the happy parts of their last night together more vividly. He replays those memories in his head, trying to solidify them.

"Did you see the lights, as they fell all around you…? Did you hear the music, a serenade from the stars…?" He laughs at how appropriate the song is, given his current situation. He wonders if it's night in Japan, and if Rei might be looking up at the night sky right now, thinking about the same song. But then, he can't stop himself from also wondering if she isn't sharing the night with someone else, and looking up at the stars with some other boy.

"Hey, kid!" Kaagi hears someone shout in English. He's grateful to be wrenched out of his downward spiral into jealousy. "Where are you? Are you inside that thing?"

"Yeah," he says, switching on the Eva's external speakers.

"Well, we want all you guys back here to come up to the cockpit for re-entry. Those airmen are still back here somewhere, too. And your friend here followed me back when he didn't know what the hell I was saying to him."

"He's not my…. Yeah, okay. I'll get everybody and we'll head up front," Kaagi replies.

The astronaut starts to float back the way he came, leaving Shinji in the cargo bay. Shinji realizes it's only the second time he's heard Kaagi speak English before, except when he sings. And it isn't the same as when Asuka speaks German. She always seemed to turn into a completely different person. But Kaagi sounded the same, a little tired, a little condescending, a little pleased with himself. It grated on Shinji just as much, but at the same time, it made Kaagi seem more sincere, being the same person no matter what language he was speaking.

"Hey, Shinji," Kaagi says, reverting to Japanese. "The astronaut said he wants us all up front. Could you look for the Japanese crew members while I power-down Unit-07? They're still back here somewhere."

"Okay," Shinji says begrudgingly. The lengthy swim through zero-gravity to get here was difficult enough. Sighing, he heads further back, toward the massive generator to which the Eva is attached. Looking around, he calls out, "Um… is anybody back here? They… they want us to go up front."

After more grunting and pulling himself along, he rounds a corner, peers behind the generator, and screams. The airmen are floating before him, wearing blank stares of death. They're all hand-cuffed to outcroppings of the generator. Amidst the bodies, Shinji can see the generator's readouts and the warnings of an impending overload. He stumbles backward and starts spinning out of control.

"What's going on?" shouts Kaagi.

Shinji can think of no reply as he completely loses his bearings. Kaagi peers over the plug in the direction of Shinji's cry. He sees the Third Child spinning backward and upward, a look of absolute panic on his face.

"Calm down!" Kaagi calls out with irritation. Angered by Kaagi's impatience, Shinji steels himself. Upon reaching the roof of the chamber, he remembers his training and pushes off, straight toward the extended entry-plug where Kaagi stands.

"They're all dead! And they set the generator to overload!" Shinji yells at the Sixth Child. He grabs the lip of the plug's open hatchway to stop his forward motion. The color drains from Kaagi's face as he starts to understand what Shinji's statement means.

"They were terrorists?" he gasps.

"I don't know!" cries Shinji. "Maybe it was just one of them, and he killed the rest. But we have to do something! We have to stop it… or warn the astronauts… maybe they can stop it!"

"How much time before it blows?"

"I… I don't know…," Shinji replies. Kaagi pauses a second, grits his teeth, then grabs Shinji and pulls him into the plug. Shinji wrestles away and yells, "What are you doing?"

"We'll be safest in the Eva," Kaagi says, shutting the hatch. Shinji stares at him as Kaagi's eyes dart back and forth in thought. "If… if we're lucky… the explosion will hurl us back to Earth. The generator is behind us… and the ship is headed back there…. If we extend the Eva's wings after we break the atmosphere, we might be able to slow our descent…."

"What are you talking about?" Shinji screams. "We can't just let the other people on board die! We have to get out there and warn them!"

"If we leave the Eva we could die!" Kaagi yells back at him. "This thing could blow up at any second… you don't know! It takes five minutes just to space-walk up to the cockpit from here! We don't know if we have that kind of time! But, right now, we're as safe as we can be, and we might have a chance. Outside, we've got no chance."

"So, we just decide that the others have no chance?" Shinji asks, hoping to touch some nerve of guilt within Kaagi. Besides that, though, he can't think of an argument against the other boy's logic, as cruel as it might be. Shinji takes a hard look at the closed hatch, but he makes no move to open it.

After re-inserting the plug, they sit silently waiting for the inevitable. Eventually, Kaagi decides to speak.

"Look, I know you're probably in no mood to do me any favors," he says to Shinji. "But if for some reason, you make it through this and I don't… could you tell Rei that she was the last thing I was thinking about?" The fact that they may still die, brought harshly to light by Kaagi, finally draws out the question that has been bothering Shinji all week. He just couldn't admit to himself that he cares about the answer, until now.

"Why do you hate me?" he asks, and Kaagi sighs at this response.

"Fine, don't tell her," Kaagi says. "And I pretty much covered "why I hate you" on the plane. I shouldn't have expected you to be listening, I guess."

"No, I heard you," Shinji says. "You said you hated me your whole life…." Shinji's original question still hangs in the air, dangling from the end of that last sentence.

"Caught that, did you?" Kaagi says, shaking his head in disappointment. "I knew I'd slip eventually. My sister said it would be easier to get along with everybody if I kept it a secret. Yeah, right…. If this is "easier", harder must be a real bitch. Of course, if we end up dead, it won't have mattered anyway….

"So you want to know why I really hate you…? I hate you because your dad screwed my mom. He cheated on your mom, but he wouldn't divorce her. Then, he made my mom give me away, and she stayed your dad's whore for nine years until she finally killed herself. So, the next time you want to feel sorry for yourself, Shinji Ikari, just remember… you're the son he kept."

_Pleased to meet you, hope you guessed my name,_ Kaagi sings resentfully in his head.

Shinji looks away. The person beside him has just told him that he's his brother. It's the same person who might have been his friend five seconds before, who was definitely his enemy, five days before that. After the shock, an all-too-familiar feeling of betrayal snakes around Shinji's heart, gripping it like a vice.

_Why does everyone keep secrets from me?_ is all he can think. _Nobody ever tells me the truth! Toji never told me that he was the Fourth Child…. Misato didn't either, not until it was too late. Kaworu never told me he was an Angel. Asuka… she asked me out, but she didn't really want to be with me. Why does everyone I want to love or trust lie to me? And… but… why does this hurt just like all the other times? Do I want to… trust Kaagi? I hate him…! Just like I hate my father… …just like I hate myse-_

Shinji's thoughts are interrupted as an explosion tears the shuttle apart.

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2016, yesterday afternoon…

In the Vice-Commander's office, Misato stands gaping for a second time. Ritsuko had barely allowed any time for the reality of her promotion to soak in before dropping another bombshell.

"Shinji and Kaagi are alive?" Misato breathes. She almost doesn't dare to believe the news, especially given the source. Ritsuko just smiles and nods.

"Unit-07 fell to Earth just off the coast of Sri Lanka," she explains. "It walked right out of the ocean and collapsed on the beach, with Shinji and Kaagi on board. They were badly injured, but they survived. Mind you, this is all hush-hush until we get them back to Japan. You're only the" (she raises each finger on one hand, counting) "fifth person to know. The three of them are being air-lifted home as we speak."

"Three of them?" asks Misato.

"The boys and the Eva," Ritsuko says. Misato scowls back at her, but she ignores it. "As I was saying, they were hurt…. Shinji is still unconscious. It was against medical advice that we move him, but the Commander signed off on it."

"How is that? I'm his guardian!"

"But you're not his mother," Ritsuko reminds her. "And that reminds me; I wanted to thank you for looking after my brother these past few weeks."

"Your brother?" Misato repeats, flummoxed once again. Her constant stream of questions is swelling Ristuko's already inflated sense of superiority, and they both know it.

"My brother Kaagi," she says simply. "I'm glad he didn't tell you. I'd advised him not to, because I was afraid it would have colored your feelings toward him, given yours and my recent falling out. And that would have been unfair, since he and I have never been that close. I'm ashamed to admit it, but I've only acted like a sister when it suited my whims… which wasn't often."

"Well, you've certainly moved up in the world," Misato says, noting the immaculate grooming Ritsuko's had since she last saw her. She's changing the subject to try to ignore the fact that Ristuko's association with Kaagi is indeed coloring her opinion of the boy, even after she'd grown to like him.

"From lowly prisoner to Vice-Commander, it's been quite a meteoric rise," Ristuko says, smiling like a canary-stuffed cat. Adopting a more commanding tone, she continues, "You see, the U.N. has decided that too much authority is held by too few people here at NERV. So, we're adopting a new system of checks-and-balances within the power structure. These changes are effective immediately, and will be going all the way down the chain of command.

"My position gives me much more latitude than it did when Fuyutsuki held it. In my short tenure, I've already appointed a new Director to Section 2. And, in this new spirit of redundancy, I've created the position of "Sub-Director of Tactical Ops" as a direct subordinate to you. I expect you to train her as thoroughly as possible, should she ever need to direct Tactical Operations in your absence."

"Sub-Director?" Misato scoffs, although she mentally kicks herself for falling into the reactive-question routine again.

"Yes…," purrs Ritsuko. She looks over Misato's shoulder at the doorway. "And here they come now, in fact. Please allow me to introduce Captain Maya Ibuki, Sub-Director of Tactical Operations… as well as our new Director of Security, Section 2, Mr. Ryoji Kaji."

Misato hears that last name, and she feels like she's been punched in the gut. Given the choice, she'd have preferred an actual punch. She doesn't turn to look at the new arrivals, but she doesn't have to. Not before long, she hears him speak. He's so close, she can feel his breath on her ear.

"Hello, Katsuragi," Kaji says with his usual reserved flippancy. Underneath it, there's a mournful aspect to his voice that Misato is certain only she can detect. She'd very much like to haul off and slap him. But she keeps staring straight at Ritsuko, because Misato knows that the worst fate she can visit upon Kaji is to ignore him.

"And we owe you some amount of thanks for all our promotions, too, Misato," Ritsuko tells her. "If you hadn't distracted the Commander by nosing around where you shouldn't have, he may actually have discovered me staging this little coup. Of course, you wouldn't have started your digging if it weren't for that little capsule I had Kaji give you. Oh, and don't think for one moment that your Hyuga could've hacked Maya's files if I hadn't asked her to allow it."

_I have been such a fool,_ Misato thinks. Red-faced in embarrassment and anger, she pushes past Maya and Kaji and storms out of the office.

"Major Katsuragi, wait!" Maya calls, running after her. Misato comes slowly to a halt, then turns to fix Maya with a weary glare. The young Captain pauses, swallows hard, and continues, "For what it's worth, Major… I'm sorry."

"Don't be," Misato replies. She looks past the younger woman to Ritsuko and Kaji. They're still in the office, talking secretively. "I know where your allegiances lie, Maya."

"Despite that, Ma'am, I have always considered it an honor to serve under you," Maya says earnestly. "And I know that I'll have to work twice as hard, to prove to you that I deserve this promotion."

"You're damned right," says Misato. But she can't suppress a fleeting smile at Maya's determination. She's reminded of herself at that age, not all that long ago. "I think you'll do okay, though, just as long as you don't let some stupid man come along and play with your heart." (_Like I did,_ she adds to herself.)

"Oh… I don't think there's much chance of that," Maya replies, giggling. It feels good for her to laugh.

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2016, four days ago…

Maya Ibuki stands at the desk in her bedroom, nervously awaiting her moment of truth. Ritsuko had called her yesterday, to let her know that everything was ready. Still, Maya knew the consequences of helping her mentor escape and fully expected repercussions, despite Ritsuko's reassurances.

And indeed, Ritsuko had called again, just minutes ago. She said she was on her way over, and for Maya to sit tight, but Maya could hear the worry in the her voice. She might be young and inexperienced, but she knows, as well as Ritsuko does, that sometimes retribution flies faster than even those with the best of intentions. She winces slightly as she hears her front door being kicked in. Only two footfalls thunder into her apartment.

_That will make this easier, _she thinks, with a detachment that surprises her.

She's not facing her bedroom door as it's opened cautiously by one of the intruders. She hears what she presumes to be a man from the heaviness of the footsteps, approaching her from behind. Someone else comes running in from the hallway, most likely beckoned by the first intruder when he'd discovered Maya here.

"Lieutenant Maya Ibuki," announces the second man from the doorway, "you're under arrest, by order of Commander Ikari. Please come with us."

"Did he order that I be taken alive?" Maya asks as resolutely as she can.

"That's not your concern," says the first man. She'd rather things were more plain and straightforward, but they never are with Section 2. Still, it's close enough an answer to "no" for Maya's purposes.

_I remember so vividly that day on the shooting range, during training,_ she thinks. _Lieutenant Aoba was practicing there, too._ _Shigeru was doing so well, hitting all the targets… I think I screamed every time my gun went off. He just laughed. He told me, so nonchalantly, "You kill, or you die." Then he squeezed off another couple of rounds…. I remember deciding right then and there that I would rather die than become a killer._

_But that was before I watched a teenage boy kill another teenage boy to save all our lives from Third Impact… to save my life. I recalled that day at the range then, too. It occurred to me how selfish I would be, to throw away the life that boy had saved, just because I couldn't do something that he could._

_I hear them cocking their guns… but mine already is._

Two shots ring out in the small apartment, and Maya walks briskly past the bodies before her conscience can fully take in what she's done. She runs out her front door, and straight into the arms of Ritsuko. The older woman holds the younger as she weeps.

_Why am I always late?_ Ritsuko laments, reengaging the safety on her own gun.

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2015…

Through the slowly spinning blades of a large, industrial fan, a pale orange sunset can be seen. The fan is immense, dwarfing the man who stands beneath it. He leans casually against the wall, not even turning to look as the assassin enters.

"Oh, hi," Kaji says, turning finally. "You're a little late, aren't you?"

A gunshot punctuates his sentence, followed by the thud of a body hitting the floor.

"Better late than never," says Ritsuko, holding a smoking pistol. Kaji looks down at the would-be assassin's corpse.

"Almost not," he says, half-grinning.

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2016, yesterday night…

Misato's anger has been eating her up inside all day. She'd stopped trusting Ritsuko a while ago, and, in retrospect, she'd never fully trusted Kaji at all. But they'd gone further than just betraying her trust. They'd lied to her, they'd used her, they'd humiliated her, and they'd done it together. It was like being in grade school, suddenly becoming the ostracized member of a clique who none of the other members would talk to anymore. Her anger is so consuming, she can't smother it with alcohol. Her anger demands violence.

She feels the weight of the claw-hammer in her hand. She'd decided that a gun would be too loud, too quick, and too impersonal. She stalks her prey with ease, unconsciously using her military stealth training to quietly creep closer. Misato watches them lying there, blissfully unaware. She wishes it were possible to alert them to their impending fate. She wants them to know what's about to happen, and to feel their fear.

Standing above them, she raises the hammer. Without so much as a twinge of remorse, she strikes the first blow. And once it's begun, she doesn't stop. The hammer falls at a dizzying pace. Red splatters Misato's clothes, hands, and face as she brings the hammer down, again and again and again. She feels the crunch and hears the wet sound of the wounds she inflicts. That's all she can hear, apart from her own screams muted through her clenched teeth. After some time, she's no longer satisfied by the blunt impact and she reverses the weapon, digging and gouging with the clawed end.

Misato doesn't stop her assault until the tool's dirty teeth can no longer find purchase in anything solid amidst the slaughter. Exhausted, she drops the hammer and surveys the carnage. Something red and sticky runs down her cheek and she wipes it off with two fingers. Putting the fingers in her mouth, she sucks them clean, savoring the sweet taste of vengeance.

Finally, Misato turns to go, leaving the mutilated watermelons behind her.

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2000…

On a catwalk, hovering above vats of steaming liquid, a lone woman stands. She stares, straining to see any tiny speck in the swirling depths. She smiles at the thought that she may have, but it was probably a trick of light and shadow. Hearing footsteps approach, she turns and sees the man she loves. He kisses her and touches her through her lab-coat.

"Antarctica certainly hasn't cooled you off," she jokes. Gendo smiles and kisses her again.

"I've been down there too long," he explains. "I missed this."

"Don't you wonder how things have been going?" Yui asks, coyly pulling away. "The Kaworu archetype will end gestation tomorrow… the other, "normal" pilots have just begun theirs... oh, and Naoko's been missing you terribly…." Gendo tenses at the mention of the other woman's name. Yui just laughs.

"Don't tease me, Yui," he pleads. "It's in poor taste. You know I love you."

"I know, darling," she says dismissively. "But we've all had to make sacrifices for the Project. Bedding that old hag was yours. If it weren't for her expertise in the field of cloning, we wouldn't have any of this… no Evas and no pilots. And if it weren't for your charm, we wouldn't have her."

"Are Project Shinji and Project Rei still hidden from SEELE?" he asks, changing the subject.

"Of course," she says. "Who's going to notice more clones among all the others? Hiding Rei's a little tricky, but you've got Naoko running interference on Shinji and her own pet project. That makes my job easier."

"I had hoped you wouldn't mind me telling her about Shinji," Gendo says. "But if she thinks she knows all the secrets, it keeps her from digging deeper."

"You worry too much," Yui says with exaggerated pity. "Of course she's totally on board with the idea of another you running around. I'd love to see her face if she ever found out about Rei, though. But I'm more careful than that. Trust me to handle averting the disasters, and you just handle creating them." Gendo frowns, taking her meaning.

"Tomorrow will be Hell on Earth," he says.

"Tomorrow, we witness the birth of the future," Yui adds, smiling.

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Episode Midpoint


	10. Episode 5, part 2

Evangelion: New Testament 

Episode: 5 (part 2)

"Remember the Fallen"

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The seats vibrate spasmodically as the elevated train trundles along its route through Tokyo-3. Rei is seated, but she barely notes the sensation underneath her. She's watching the orange orb that is the sun ease itself down outside the train-car's dirty windows. To her right, a middle-aged man holds his young daughter, who has drifted off to sleep. To her left, a teenage couple slightly older than herself shamelessly kiss, oblivious to anyone around them. In front of her, silhouetted by the light of dusk, sits a mother nursing her infant.

To scream or gasp or even shout a warning would all be pointless. Rei just watches as the N2 mines fall like leaves, toppling end over end in slow motion, down past the tops of the skyscrapers. She doesn't feel a thing, physically or otherwise, as Tokyo-3 is annihilated.

_I'm naked… but I realize my purpose at last. I can see them all dying, before, now, and later… their souls unbound. Major Katsuragi, Dr. Akagi, Vice-Commander (Professor) Fuyutsuki, everyone everyone everyone everyone everyone…. It takes a second… it takes forever. Their bodies become nothing… and I watch each one._

_I'm dying too…. The Commander put something inside of me…. I stand beneath the masked Angel… Lilith. Adam is a part of me, now. I must become one with Lilith. The mask falls away, and it's my face. I am Adam… I am Lilith… I'm not dying…._

_I am Death._

_NO! _she thinks._ I'm Rei! I'm Rei! I'm Rei! I'm Rei! I'm Rei! I'm Rei! I'm Rei! I'm Rei! I'm Rei! I'm Rei! I'm Rei! I'm Rei! I'm Rei! I'm Rei! I'm Rei! I'm Rei! I'm Rei! I'm Rei! I'm Rei! I'm Rei! I'm Rei! I'm Rei! I'm Rei! I'm Rei! I'm Rei! I'm Rei! I'm Rei! I'm Rei! I'm Rei! I'm Rei! I'm Rei! I'm Yui! I'm Rei! I'm Rei! I'm Rei! I'm Rei! I'm Rei! I'm Rei! I'm Rei! I'm Rei! I'm Rei! I'm Rei! I'm Rei! I'm Rei! I'm Rei! I'm Rei! I'm Rei!_

"You are… still not ready…." The voice carries immeasurable disappointment. The voice is Kaworu's.

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2001…

Naoko Akagi peers through her car's windshield, trying to keep her eyes and herself on the road despite the driving rain. The wipers swish back and forth, barely keeping the downpour at bay. Few houses along this stretch have their lights on, as power-conscious residents still conserve, though it's been almost a year since the cataclysm known as "Second Impact". The thunder crashes, and she prays that nature's tumult won't wake the baby in the car-seat behind her.

In the distance, the house she's been searching for is aglow, cutting through the rain and night with its warmth. She sighs with relief and sneaks a quick glance back at the sleeping baby. It's still cooing softly to itself, wrapped up in the fuzzy blanket Naoko had bought. She pulls slowly into the driveway, and her chest tightens with nervousness each foot she draws closer. After a long while spent sitting in the car, she gets out and opens her umbrella.

"Damn," she whispers, wrestling with the car-seat as she tries to hold the umbrella over the open car-door. "Please don't wake up! They make these blasted things differently than when Ritsuko was little!" With the baby in hand, she makes her way to the front door. Unexpectedly, no one is waiting to greet her. She wonders if her approach wasn't heard because of the storm. Her hand is shaking as she goes to ring the bell, but it's not from the cold.

"Hello, Dr. Akagi," says the dour man who answers the door. He looks to be in his mid-thirties, like Naoko, and it suddenly occurs to her that she's never met him before. Nonetheless, he's exactly as she pictured him, thanks to vividly unflattering descriptions.

"Hello, Mr. Soryu," Naoko answers back icily. "I'm here to see Kyoko."

"My wife has been… unwell, since the disaster last year," he says cryptically. He looks from Naoko to the baby, then back. The rain beats down on her umbrella. Finally, with a frown, he motions for her to enter.

"Perhaps she'd be doing better if you'd allowed anyone to visit her in the meantime," snaps Naoko as she walks ahead of him through the foyer. "Or, at the very least, you could have let her return one of my phone calls!"

"Your concern for my wife is appreciated, Doctor," he replies, apparently unfazed by her accusations, "as are your efforts on our behalf." With that, he takes another long look at the baby. Naoko sets the heavy car-seat down, but doesn't leave its side. She crosses her arms and stares firmly at her host.

"I did this for Kyoko," she tells him. "And I'm not leaving without seeing her. Or, if I am, then the baby is coming with me."

"There is no need to threaten me, Dr. Akagi," he says. Naoko thinks she sees sadness creeping into his stoic features.

"Where is she, Mr. Soryu?" Naoko demands.

"If you could answer me one thing first…," he starts. His face is still emotionless, but his eyes are pleading. "…is that… is that baby one of the pilots?" Naoko fumes silently and grinds her teeth as she considers leaving immediately. But if she does, she might lose any chance of seeing Kyoko.

"Well, yes and no," she admits. "The baby was cloned along with the pilots, so she does bear the same genetic alterations that would enable her to sync with an Eva. But I wiped her from the database. She's not on the official roster. It was against the protocol from SEELE to clone anyone who wasn't projected to die in "Second Impact". I had to hide her, or else they probably would have euthanized her when they discovered I cloned her from Kyoko's DNA. This… this is the closest thing to a real child of her own that I could give her."

"And it's the furthest thing from a child of my own," Kyoko's husband mutters.

"Naoko, is that you?" comes a frail voice from an adjoining hallway. Dr. Akagi rushes to help the newcomer join them in the sitting room while Mr. Soryu looks on in shock and anger.

"Kyoko," he scolds, "you were supposed to take your sedative."

"I didn't want to," she answers petulantly. The woman Naoko Akagi leads into the room bears little resemblance to the vibrant, young girl she knew. Kyoko Zeppelin Soryu looks emaciated, wearing only a stained, ill-fitting robe. She walks with halting uncertainty, and her once-sparkling blue eyes are now dull and vacant.

"I… I brought something for you," Naoko says unsteadily. She suddenly doesn't know how to behave, faced with this apparent stranger who's but a shadow her former friend. Slowly, she leads her to the car-seat and kneels down with her to examine its contents. The look of joy on Kyoko's face fills Naoko's heart with hope.

"Look!" Kyoko squeals to her husband. "Look what Naoko brought me!" She hugs the older woman roughly, then turns back to admiring the baby. "It's beautiful! It's the most beautiful doll I've ever seen!"

"No, Kyoko…," Naoko says softly. She feels the hope leaving her, and she desperately tries to hold onto it. "It's not a doll…. This… this is your baby." Kyoko grimaces. When she looks at Naoko, she's on the verge of tears, like a child whose toy has been taken away.

"That's not my baby," Kyoko says, her voice distorted by sadness. She lets out a small whimper. Then, in a flash, her sadness turns frighteningly to rage.

"That's not my baby!" she screams, rising from the floor. Kyoko tears open her robe, clawing at her gaunt stomach with quaking fingers. "That didn't come out of me! That wasn't inside me!"

Her screaming wakes the baby, and the infant's cry forms a torturous cacophony with Kyoko's continued wails. Her husband hugs her with firm restraint as Naoko cowers on the floor. He looks down at the doctor, conveying with that single look that she should go.

"All my babies are dead!" Kyoko yells at Naoko as the older woman flees.

Naoko wipes away her own tears as she sits in her car alone. She thinks she can hear Kyoko and the baby, crying over the sounds of the rain and thunder. But she decides it must have been her imagination when she can still hear their cries, long after leaving.

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2016, this morning…

Asuka Langley Soryu humbly thanks Hikari Horaki's mother for letting her enter before immediately tramping up the stairs to her friend's room. She'd decided that twenty-four hours would be enough time for Hikari to cool down after yesterday's embarrassing scene. Then, after asking Mrs. Horaki if Hikari was in and asking if she could come inside, Asuka became a juggernaut. She doesn't even knock on Hikari's bedroom door before entering.

"Can you believe Toji, pouncing on me like that…?" she starts in instantly.

_I don't even know if Hikari wants me as her friend anymore,_ she thinks.

"…I mean, who knew he was such a rapist…?"

_But I'm going to keep acting like I am._

"…It's a good thing we found out before you two got really serious…."

_She'd have to be pretty pissed off to contradict me._

"What are you doing here?" Hikari asks, her eyes narrowed with malice.

_Okay… she's pretty pissed off._

"I'm here to console you," Asuka answers glibly. She puts her hands on her hips and smirks, trying to maintain her resolve. She hadn't come over expecting a challenge to her self-righteousness. "You just found out that your boyfriend was a two-timing jerk. I thought you'd like some company."

"Asuka," Hikari starts with an exasperated sigh. Her look changes from anger to pity, but Asuka only notices the absence of anger, and her smile grows. Hikari, nearly deterred, summons up a great deal of strength to get her next words out.

"Do you even know how much of a bitch you are?" she asks. Asuka stares at her in disbelief. Ironically, she probably would have taken that as a compliment if it had come from anyone else. "I mean, people call me that, because I have to tell them what to do at school. I don't like it, but I have my responsibilities. I… I just don't understand why you do the things you do."

"What the hell did I do?" Asuka shrieks. "This isn't about me! Toji's the one who screwed up. I'm here as your friend. This is the thanks I get for going out of my way to come over here? I'm just trying to make sure you don't make a horrible mistake and forgive him!"

"You're doing what?" shouts a livid Toji. The girls turn to see him standing in the open bedroom doorway. "You're right, Hikari… she is a bitch!" Hikari hangs her head as Asuka confronts the Fourth Child.

"I can't believe you were standing there eavesdropping! Haven't you done enough?"

"I can't believe you're trying to talk her out of giving me another chance!"

"Oh? Why shouldn't I?"

"I'm not the only one to blame here!"

"You sound just like her! How is any of this my fault? I didn't kiss myself!"

"Yeah, well you can go f--"

"Stop!" interrupts Hikari.

"--yourself," Toji finishes.

"Just stop it!" Hikari commands. Toji and Asuka fall silent, and it comforts Hikari that she can still wield this kind of authority outside the classroom. Her pleasure is short-lived, though, as the insolence of her guests continues to irritate her.

"The only words I've heard that might make me consider not giving you a second chance are the ones coming out of your own mouth, Suzuhara," she growls. "And as for you, Asuka…you need to go and think really hard about what it means to be someone's friend. I'm sorry, but if you don't see anything wrong with what you've done today, or yesterday, or what you did to Rei… then maybe I don't need a friend like you."

The two of them stare at her until Hikari's withering gaze sends them marching shamefully from her room. Toji and Asuka walk in hostile silence from the Horaki home, then stop to stare each other down on the sidewalk. Each wants to blame the other for their predicament, but Toji makes the first solid attempt.

"So what was it Asuka?" he asks her. "Were you really upset about Shinji dying, or were you just trying to get me to kiss you, like you did with Kaagi?" She looks at him, aghast. She's as upset by his question as she is by the fact that Hikari obviously told him about her plot against Rei.

"You conceited bastard!" she says, slapping him. She stalks away in a huff, leaving Toji essentially without an answer. She couldn't admit to trying to seduce him, because that would make her vile, but she couldn't admit to caring about Shinji, because that would make her weak. She's also not entirely sure which it was. But, with mounting humiliation, Asuka considers the possibility that it was both.

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2005…

The long flight to Germany had given Naoko Akagi plenty of time to reflect on the events leading up to her trip. After hours of enduring overwhelming guilt, and shedding quiet tears that the other passengers chose to ignore, she had stepped off the plane ready to face the consequences of her actions. Still, that fateful, catalytic conversation with Gendo would not leave her.

"_The old men tire of working exclusively with Kaworu," he'd said to me. "They want to integrate one of the other pilots into the Project. And, unfortunately, their restlessness has brought them dangerously close to discovering our true agenda. Given time, they will find the boy… Kaagi."_

Naoko flashes her I.D. badge mechanically at each checkpoint in the Japanese Embassy. The names and faces of the people around her are all a blur.

"_Well, fine," I told him. "I've got stacks of files on my desk with the names of fourth-level candidates. As per SEELE's instructions, we gave preference to Gehirn employees wanting to adopt, so we could have the majority of the pilots readily at hand. Pick any name you like: Aida, Horaki, Naguchi, Suzuhara …."_

The room she's led to is bare, except for a chair, and a table with a TV/VCR combo sitting on it. A one-way mirror is set into the wall. She doesn't bother wondering if anyone's behind it.

"_But the old men's desire for secrets won't be sated with a pilot that they know about, Naoko. We have to deliver something more. They must think they know all the secrets, to keep them from digging deeper."_

She waits while the police officer assigned to the case brings her the tape. Her request was unusual, but her status with Gehirn brooked no denial.

"_What are you talking about?" I could never feign ignorance with him, though I tried. He just knows me too well._

"_The Soryu girl. Did you think I didn't know what you'd been doing?"_

"_No, Gendo! I promised her mother…. Is there no other way?"_

"_If we let them keep searching," he told me, "it's possible they may discover both her and the boy. You must hide the boy where no one will locate him. Then, leave a trail of breadcrumbs to the girl for the Committee to find. Once they have their secret and their Second Child, they'll leave well enough alone."_

"Are you sure you need to see this, ma'am?" the officer asks kindly.

"Play the tape," Naoko orders.

On the grainy surveillance tape, a red-haired woman cradles a rag doll in her arms. She rocks back and forth, sobbing and mumbling. Naoko turns up the volume all the way, filling the tiny room with the woman's voice.

"They're taking you away from me, Asuka," Kyoko says. "I can't let them do that. Don't you see? Mama loves you, Asuka… but she can't let them ruin you. They'll ruin you just like they ruined me, and I can't let them. I won't let them!" The misery on her face bends into a malevolent sneer, and she wrings the doll viciously until its head comes off. The misery returns directly after, even deeper than before.

"I killed my baby…," she moans. "I killed my baby…."

"Was this the section you wanted to see?" asks the visibly uncomfortable officer. "The subject, Mrs. Soryu, spends a great deal of time searching for rope and securing it before performing the actual deed."

"That part," says Naoko. "The "actual deed" as you put it. Show me that." Reluctantly, the officer fast-forwards until he reaches a particular time-code. The screen shows a dangling rope and Kyoko Zeppelin Soryu moving a chair underneath it.

"The subject has nothing further to say," the officer adds, hoping the masochistic woman will ask him to shut it off. He's ignored.

"Don't do it, Kyoko, please," Naoko whispers pointlessly. The officer, having never viewed the tape at this volume, is surprised to hear something he'd missed before.

"Mama!" a tiny voice calls from somewhere off-camera. "Mama, they chose me! I'm an elite pilot now!"

"No, Kyoko, don't!" Naoko says, no longer whispering. Tears begin pouring down her face.

"I must keep this a secret," continues the girl, "but I'll only tell you, Mama! Everybody's so nice to me now; I don't feel lonely anymore…!"

"Listen, Kyoko!" Naoko screams, grabbing the television with both hands. "That's your baby, Kyoko! Listen to her, damn it! Don't do it!" She collapses onto the tabletop, sinking to her knees on the floor in front of her chair. She buries her face in her arms and cries.

On the video, the sound of the chair being kicked over is followed a little later by the sound of an opening door, and the sharp intake of a four-year-old girl's breath. Mercifully, the officer stops the tape.

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Rei smells the grass and the cool air. She feels the wood under her knees and palms, holding her up over… a stream? She hears the sound of water rushing by. The wood doesn't move, so she assumes it to be a bridge and not a boat. A breeze swishes the skirt of her school uniform and brushes her hair against her cheek. The sun is hot on her exposed arms, calves, and back of her neck. She doesn't want to open her eyes.

The last thing she'd seen was a dead planet. Not really dead… but all of its life had been reduced to a base liquid form, lapping at a beach where the only two survivors rested. Eerily, she'd thought she'd seen Shinji raise his head to look at her. Out in the sea, her own head lay split open, gazing with a single, lifeless eye at what she'd wrought.

"Did you not like it?" asks Kaworu with pride. Rei cocks her head toward the source of the sound. "Was it not glorious?"

She risks opening her eyes to see Kaworu sitting on the bridge's railing. He smiles down at her from his perch as she stands up. In front of her, in the distance, a tiny shack sits atop a hill. The hill itself is sectioned into rice paddies which continue down into the field that this very stream runs through. Behind the shack, two mountains loom. The whole scene looks surreal, as if she were viewing a painting rather than a real thing.

"That was my destiny?" Rei asks Kaworu.

"That is the destiny of Man," he answers. Rei can't tell if he means to be affirmative or negative. "You must forgive me taking certain liberties, for the sake of the narrative. The sudden and inexplicable return of the Lance was my indulgence in what some Lilim call "deus ex machina", which I find amusing for reasons I cannot say.

"But that vision of the End…," he continues, "my vision… varies hardly at all from what my former masters wished to transpire. Indeed, even your master seeks an End similar to the one I have shown you."

"I do not accept that," she tells him. She turns away from the idyllic field. The road behind the bridge leads to Tokyo-3. The buildings are surrounded by flickering orange/yellow as black smears climb into a red sky. Tokyo-3 is burning… and Gendo Ikari sits in the heart of the flames, immune and impassive.

"Ah…," says Kaworu. "The Dragon and his steel Gomorrah still beckon you. Like Shinji, you are torn between a love that will free you, and one that will destroy you."

"I do not understand your contradictions. You once said that I was Shinji's antithesis, yet now you say we are the same. You have said that you love the Lilim, but you find glory in their destruction."

"You do not understand because Gendo Ikari has sheltered you, in the hope that you would be easier to control," he says disapprovingly. "My masters educated me, and I took their knowledge to even greater heights. So certain were they of their righteousness, they presumed that the more knowledge I attained, the more I would agree with their goals. I think I did… until the day I met Shinji. Then I saw the truth."

"Do you withhold this truth from me now, that you may exert similar control?"

"Forgive me," Kaworu says with a laugh. "I forget we are not equal in all things, yet. Where you see contradiction, there is none. You and Shinji are both different and the same… opposite sides of the same coin. As to the Lilim… it is an unfortunate fact, but in order for them to be saved, they must first be destroyed. The war against the Angels cannot be won, as the Dead Sea Scrolls have told our masters. Only the terms of the Lilim's inevitable defeat may be negotiated. And the disagreement lies in who will sit at the godhead once all become one.

"Perhaps it is because you assumed the female form," he muses. "Impulse and curiosity rule you more than they do me. In seeking knowledge, you forsake the truth." Kaworu climbs from his sitting position to stand on the bridge's railing. As effortlessly as if he were on solid ground, he begins pacing the thin, cylindrical wood.

"Do you climb higher to attempt to illustrate my inferiority?" Rei asks, looking away from him, instead of up. She nimbly climbs onto the other rail and begins pacing in the other direction. With perfect synchronicity, they turn back each time they reach opposite diagonal corners.

"Destiny cannot be denied," he tells her. "The Lilim will die, and you will become one with Ikari."

"But the choice remains mine."

"You cannot deny that you enjoyed being with Shinji… you inside him, him inside you."

"But that did not satisfy him."

"What I have shown you is the only hope that exists… the only love. All others are false."

"I must…."

"You must end the Lilim. End their pain. Make them one."

"I must…."

"You must become one with Ikari."

"…"

"…"

"I must become one with Ikari," Rei repeats with acceptance. The answer was so simple.

"At last, you understand," Kaworu sighs with relief. But his expression changes from joy to confusion as he sees Rei's thoughts. She turns to face him, with her back to the water. Holding her arms straight out at her sides, she begins to tip backward. "What are you--?

"No!" Kaworu screams. He reaches forward to grab her, but she's too far and it's too late.

Rei's eyes follow Kaworu's face as she falls, and she sees his features contort in anger for the very first time. She experiences a wicked satisfaction as she bears witness to his new-found fury. Smiling up at his enraged visage, she closes her eyes, and the azure stream envelops her.

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2016, now…

Gendo Ikari stands before the dormant Unit-01, frowning and waiting.

"Come back to me," he demands. The Evangelion's eyes are black and empty.

He is the sole figure on the green, metal bridge that spans the width of Unit-01's holding area. He doesn't know how long he's been standing here, but he won't leave until he's too tired to keep standing. There hasn't been much for him to do since Ritsuko's coup. Though she's only the Vice-Commander, she's already usurped most of his former duties. He almost doesn't care. Until the problem that he's now literally facing down resolves itself, nothing else really matters to him.

From the shadows beyond the door to the walkway, Kaagi Chuda watches Gendo stare at the purple behemoth. Furiously, Kaagi, too, tries to will the Eva to return Rei Ayanami. It hasn't worked yet, but he doesn't give up. He'll be damned if he lets Gendo Ikari keep a vigil one second longer than he does.

Ritsuko watches them both on the security-feed to her office. She'd tried to dissuade her brother from going down there so soon after returning to Japan. But he wouldn't listen to the nurses, let alone her. So in the end, she'd let him go. She doesn't talk to Gendo, if it can be helped. But she can't stop herself from grudgingly admiring the tenacity of them both, as well as their unwavering hope. If it weren't for hope, Ritsuko herself might have just withered away and died in that Isolation room.

Suddenly, Unit-01's exposed heart pulses. It glows red, then blue, then blinding white. Kaagi and Gendo shield their eyes until the light fades. Opening them slowly, they see their prayers answered.

Gendo sees her first because he's standing only a few feet from her, a teenage girl in a white plug-suit. She lies facedown on the walkway, drenched in what's presumably LCL. Sputtering, she lifts her face to look at the Commander, and his eyes grow wide. Her appearance is the same, except that her skin no longer holds any trace of pallor. Her hair, too, has changed color to become dark brown, and her eyes are now a piercing green.

"Yui," he whispers.

The girl seems confused. She looks all around, blankly, as if lost. She stares up at Gendo.

"My name…," she starts. A memory flickers in her green eyes. "My name is Rei."

He slaps her so hard that her head hits the floor. A trickle of blood snakes out onto the green metal where her eyebrow has been cut open from the impact. Gendo has a feeling like his insides being torn out, which he barely recognizes as guilt. He starts rationalizing his act at once, believing that the swell of anger in the wake of crushing disappointment forced his hand.

He makes ready to apologize to Rei, and to explain away his impulsive abuse, but Kaagi doesn't give him the chance. Gendo hears running footsteps, turning only in time to see a flash of red as Kaagi swings a fire extinguisher into his head. The Commander's glasses crack, flying off into the pit below. He crumples, unconscious, next to Rei. There's a sizable gash in his own forehead, and his blood mixes with hers on the walkway.

_That was stupid,_ Kaagi thinks, looking down at the bleeding Commander. Kaagi's wounded body is totally spent from the effort, and he drops his makeshift weapon. _He obviously wasn't going to hurt her anymore. I was just looking for any excuse to hit him, just like with Shinji on the plane. And I did it in front of her, damn it! Maybe… maybe she'll only think I was trying to protect her, and she won't realize what a violent monster I am._

Rei slowly rises to her feet, looking with puzzlement at the bleeding man lying next to her. She recognizes him, though her memories are splintered like broken glass, difficult to see and painful to touch. She looks over at the boy who'd struck the man. Though Rei's memories are returning, the process is gradual. Her instincts, however, return quicker. The first, and most deeply engrained, being the instinct for blind loyalty.

Rei lunges, wrapping her hands around Kaagi's neck. She presses as hard as she can, squeezing his windpipe closed. He's too weak to fight her off, if he could even bring himself to try. His first, implausible thought is to tell her that he loves her. His second is to say that he's sorry for what he did. Without air, he can do neither.

Surprise and confusion ravage him for agonizing seconds before he loses consciousness. Going limp, his body falls to the floor, and Rei's dragged down on top of him. She loses her grip when they land, and lays there, unsure if she should continue. She feels his chest heave up and down underneath her, reflexively gasping for air. His breath escapes his mouth and tickles her cheek.

That same feeling of loyalty, or one very similar, swells in her own chest. But it's spurred this time by this boy that she nearly killed. The illogic frustrates her. She climbs off Kaagi and stands, looking from him to Gendo repeatedly. At a loss, she flees, feeling helpless and scared. She runs past the NERV medical staff that Ritsuko had summoned to the scene and loses herself in the corridors beyond.

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2010…

"Do you think I'm blind, stupid, or both?" asks an infuriated Naoko Akagi. Minutes ago, she'd burst into the office of Gendo Ikari, using the key-card he'd given her.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Gendo says flatly.

"The girl! Rei Ayanami. Did you think, just because her genetic structure is based on the Kaworu archetype, I couldn't tell that it was Yui? Please! Give me more credit than that."

"Shouldn't you have known all along, then?" asks Gendo. "Project Shinji and Project Rei were conceived simultaneously."

"Maybe I should have," admits Naoko. "You wouldn't clone yourself without her to bring along too, would you? But damn it, you're cold. They're not just projects anymore, they're children! Real children!"

"A matter of opinion," say Gendo. "Besides, Rei isn't just based on the archetype… she's a duplication of the entire experiment. I had to bring her to the Geo-front to begin her integration. Kaworu is already too far ahead. But, despite my precautions, there's been a leak. The old men have been asking questions. I need you to pull Kaagi out of hiding to divert their attention away from Rei."

"I already sacrificed Kyoko's child to cover your secrets," she says angrily. "How dare you ask me to sacrifice my own?"

"Yours?" Gendo asks, arching an eyebrow.

"Never mind the semantics, it's too late anyway," she tells him, trying to hide her regret. Despite herself, a part of her still loves him. It was the same part that had so rashly betrayed him when wounded. "As soon as I saw Rei, I looked her up in the database. It didn't take me long to figure out you were running your own dummy-plug project. I was so angry and hurt that I… I told the Committee. They're actually delighted. They're taking Kaworu to First Branch in America, and allowing us to continue here, with her."

"You've ruined everything," Gendo says accusingly, his mind racing at the implications.

"I'm sorry," she says, looking drained. "I really am. But you should have told me from the start… maybe, I don't know…. But don't you dare talk to me like I'm a failure! The Magi are finally ready, Gendo. They're the culmination of all my work, and I'll have them online by the end of tonight! After that, maybe we can work this out…."

He lets her kiss him, a brief conciliatory gesture. Then, she exits his office with her head held high, ready to bask in the glory of her achievement. Once she's gone, Gendo slams his fist down on his desk. After this fleeting loss of composure, he straightens his tunic and sets his jaw.

"That old hag is annoying," he says. He doesn't allow himself to express any more emotion than that. Emotion impairs his ability to make decisions. And another decision has already formed. "That old hag is no use anymore."

Unnoticed in a shadowy corner of his office, Rei hears.

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2016, now…

Asuka races through the halls of NERV's private hospital, searching for a particular room. As soon as Misato had told her that Shinji and Kaagi were alive, she'd bolted from the apartment straight here. It was an impulsive and irrational thing to do, she decided, about halfway into the trip. But she continued on since she had already come halfway.

_I'll show you, Hikari,_ she thought, after analyzing her motivations more thoroughly. _You want to give Toji a second chance? You think I'm such a horrible bitch? I'll show you what a good person I am… what a good friend I am! I'm going to do what you'd want me to do. I'm going to give him a second chance. He kissed me, he left me, but I'm going to let him love me! No games, no revenge against Wonder Girl… I'm just going to go into his hospital room and ask him out. Then you'll see how gracious I can really be, Hikari!_

Still searching, Asuka makes her way past a room guarded heavily by security. Peeking around them, she spies Commander Ikari sleeping within. His head is bandaged and his glasses are markedly absent. She frowns at this oddity before moving on.

At that moment, Rei, too, is wandering the same halls. The small cut above her eye has stopped bleeding and is beginning to scab. But it was something other than her medical needs that drew her to the hospital wing of NERV HQ. She feels her memories tickling the edge of her consciousness, beckoning her closer to… to what, she doesn't know.

Rei stops at a room where a familiar boy lays unconscious. She walks in, guilt stiffening her pace. She hazily remembers that her actions have caused the boy to be here in this condition. She walks closer and stares at his arms lying limp at his sides. She remembers feeling safe in those arms. And she remembers feeling content, holding him in hers.

She crawls on top of him in the bed, hoping that being closer to him will bring back the memories that she's sorely missing. Her face nears his, and another blurry recollection comes to her. It's the recollection of a feeling… the feeling of a kiss. As if to take that memory back, she leans in and kisses him.

At that moment, Asuka steps into the room to find them there. The poetic justice of the situation nails her right between the eyes, obliterating her romanticized notion of how this scene was going to play out.

_I guess I'm not going get to show you how good I can be after all, Hikari,_ she thinks. _At least I'm not so self-absorbed that I can't tell what this is. This is exactly what you felt yesterday when you found me with Toji, isn't it? This is exactly what Rei felt on Monday when she attacked me. This is the pain that I gave you two, and now I'm getting it back. So much for second chances, Hikari…for him… or for me. _She turns to go without noticing that the boy in the hospital bed has begun to stir.

And, as Shinji slowly opens his eyes, he's shocked to discover that the lips he's kissing are no longer Kaworu's.

_Oh my god!_ he thinks, finding Rei on top of him. Her face fills his field of vision, so he doesn't notice the red-haired girl leaving his doorway, shutting the door behind her. Only one other thought penetrates his brain as Rei's kiss floods his senses.

_Kaagi is going to kill me!_ he thinks.

But he doesn't stop kissing her.

To Be Continued…

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Next Episode Preview:

At last, shattered friendships will begin to mend. But most everyone discovers that in order to save one relationship, another may have to be sacrificed. They're all talking, but are they talking to the right people? Next: "Strange Bedfellows/All Alone Together".


	11. Episode 6, part 1

**Evangelion: New Testament**

Episode: 6

"Strange Bedfellows"

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The boy whose alarm had woken him finds it difficult to return to sleep. The nine minutes that the "snooze" feature allows before sounding the alarm again are silently ticking away, and he would like nothing better than a few more moments of respite. But it seems that is not to be.

He reaches over Rei's sleeping form, fumbling around on the bedside table for his glasses. He wants badly to touch her nude body, but he's polite enough to not risk waking her by doing so. Not finding his glasses, he frowns, then rolls over and gropes the table on the opposite bedside. Underneath his outstretched arm, Asuka tosses in her sleep. She feels his heaving chest near her, and snuggles closer. Still, his glasses elude him.

Misato enters the bedroom, carrying a tray filled with breakfast. She smiles, finding the boy awake and the two girls with him still asleep. He smiles back lustfully, though the tray she carries is obscuring the most interesting parts of her toplessness. She's about to set the tray down, when the alarm sounds once more.

"Kensuke!" calls the boy's father. "You need to get up now, or you'll be late for school!"

Kensuke Aida exits his empty bed, cursing his usual luck.

He peers around his blurry room until he spies a glasses-shaped smudge sitting on his desk. He puts them on, then immediately raises them to inspect the model assault-tank that they'd been sitting next to. Kensuke can't help admiring his workmanship before beginning his day. He'd applied the basecoat to the "Rhino" last night, and it's now ready for detailing. But that will have to wait until after he gets home from school.

Once he's dressed, Kensuke traipses into the kitchen to find breakfast waiting. His father is eating already, as well as reading the morning newspaper. The elder Aida turns a few more pages before eyeing his son. The teen is picking at his food distractedly, heedless of his need for haste to ensure a punctual arrival at school.

"Something bothering you, Ken?" his father asks. The curly-haired boy peers over the tops of his glasses, reluctant to answer. With a sigh, he stops making any attempt to eat.

"I'm not looking forward to school," he admits. His father fixes him with a concerned stare. As far as he knew, Kensuke never lacked enthusiasm for anything.

"Trouble in one of your classes?" he asks skeptically.

"No," Kensuke replies, trying hard not to roll his eyes. "It's my friends, Dad…. Hikari, the Class Rep, and her best friend, Asuka, aren't speaking. That's putting Asuka in a fowler mood than usual. On top of that, Hikari won't talk to Toji, either. He's getting really depressed, and nothing I can say seems to help. Kaagi, the new kid, is coming back today, and I'm pretty sure that'll make things worse. But maybe not. Once Ayanami and Shinji get back, though… then things will definitely get worse."

"Let me guess," Kensuke's father says, smiling knowingly. "One of these girls heard from one of the other girls that the third girl said something mean about her behind her back. Now they're all mad at each other, and they won't let their boyfriends talk either. Am I right?"

"Uh… well… it's a little more complicated than that," Kensuke says. "See, they all went out on a date the Saturday before last, and Asuka made out with Kaagi, who was supposed to be with Ayanami. Asuka told the whole class about it the following Monday while Kaagi and Shinji were in America, and Ayanami attacked her. They haven't seen each other since that day, because the city was attacked, and Ayanami got absorbed into Unit-01. Then, Friday, everyone thought Shinji and Kaagi were dead, so Toji went to Asuka's on Saturday morning to console her. He ended up kissing her, and Hikari walked in on them. Come to find out on Sunday, Shinji and Kaagi are alive and Ayanami got out of Unit-01. Kaagi was supposed to come back to school on Monday, but he had some sort of respiratory problem the day before, so they kept him for another twenty-four hours. I don't know when Shinji and Ayanami are coming back…. But in the meantime, nobody's talking to anybody, and I don't know what to do."

Kensuke's father sits frozen. Only the occasional blink indicates his continued conscious state. Kensuke, feeling a little better for having unloaded his burden, takes a few more bites of breakfast. Eventually, his father shakes off his stupor.

"Um… I'm sure these little problems will work themselves out," is what he intended to say, certain that his suspicions about mundane, middle-school troubles would be confirmed. He said it anyway, well aware that he was woefully lacking in conviction.

Kensuke is unable to stop himself from rolling his eyes this time. Embarrassed by his inadequate advice, his father chooses to ignore the slight and quickly returns his attention to the paper.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Hey, Asuka!"

Asuka acts as though she didn't hear Kaagi calling her. She thumbs quickly through her briefcase, shuts her locker, and then heads down the hall, toward Classroom 2-A and away from him. He, like Shinji and Toji, is a walking monument to one of two isolated failures in her usually indomitable self-control, and she welcomes his return as anxiously as she'd welcome another failure. But even pretending he doesn't exist can't erase the memories. She remembers throwing herself at him over painful recollections of her mother. She remembers letting her grief over Shinji's apparent death wear down her defenses enough for Toji to slip in.

_What should I do for an encore, hop in bed with Aida?_ she wonders spitefully. She hears Kaagi's footsteps behind her, increasing in speed to catch up to her. _I should really tell him about what I saw his precious little Wonder Girl doing to Shinji on Sunday…. But I can't drop a bomb like that without Hikari finding out, and then I'd never be able to get her to forgive me._

"I just wanted to say that I'm sorry," Kaagi starts again. He's close enough now that he's sure Asuka can hear him. "I shouldn't have walked out on you like I did… after we… you know."

_Well, it's good to see someone besides me trying to degrade himself for forgiveness,_ Asuka thinks._ Stupid Toji should take a lesson._ Still, she gives Kaagi the cold shoulder.

"You have every right to be pissed off," he tries. But her continued silence irks him too much. "I'm sure that's probably not something you're used to hearing…," he adds. At last, she turns and acknowledges his presence.

"As apologies go, that one really stunk," she observes. Eyeing him with suspicion, she asks, "You're not just apologizing because you're afraid I'll tell Rei about us kissing, are you?"

_Of course I am!_ Kaagi thinks_. I mean, I really am sorry, but I'd rather just avoid you and let it blow over than have to do this._

"No!" he says with exaggerated offense.

"Well, I already told her, anyway," Asuka tells him, acting pleased with herself. "She has every right to know how attracted to me you are." Kaagi's jaw hangs open for a few seconds as he stares at her.

"Who's attracted to whom?" he asks. "You're the one who kissed me!"

"You think I kissed you because I was attracted to you?" she asks condescendingly. "You were all bruised up and going on about your dead mother. I kissed you because I felt sorry for you. You should probably be thanking me instead of apologizing."

"Oh, okay," he replies sarcastically. "Thank you, Asuka! Thank you for a week of worrying how badly I upset you, when it turns out you couldn't have cared less. And thank you for blowing it for me with Rei! I was afraid I wouldn't be able to do that on my own."

"Oh, I'm sure you would have," she says with mock-consolation.

"Very funny," Kaagi says dryly. He begins to wonder how Shinji might react to hearing about the kiss. He'd deliberately not told him during their trip to America. But it's apparent to him now that Asuka, and possibly Rei, will need some convincing to stay quiet if he doesn't want the secret out. Unless… "Does anyone else know about us kissing?"

"Huh…," says Asuka thoughtfully, "that's kind of a long story." She allows herself a superior smirk as she opens the classroom door.

They enter together, and all eyes turn instantly toward them. A group of whispering girls point in their direction, half-heartedly trying to stifle their laughter. Meanwhile, the boys in the class almost unanimously greet them with hoots and cat-calls. Hikari purposefully avoids looking, while Toji glares angrily at Asuka. Kensuke just looks miserable.

"Would it be a shorter story if I asked if anyone doesn't know?" Kaagi asks with irritation. Asuka delivers him a broad, patronizing smile before daintily taking her seat. Kaagi, in turn, hangs his head with a sigh.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Shinji Ikari lies in his hospital bed, self-consciously licking and pursing his lips. It's been about three days since Rei kissed him, and he can think of nothing else. Not that there is much else to divert his attention in these drab surroundings. He remembers Dr. Kaiu telling him about the rooms being videotaped, but he can't see a camera. Nevertheless, and despite the effect that Rei's kiss continues to have on him, he keeps his hands to himself, or off himself, as the case may be.

Security had taken her away before he could talk to her. After she'd stopped kissing him, they just stared at each other. He'd wondered for a moment if it really was Rei. Her hair and eyes were different colors, and she'd looked at his face as if she barely recognized it. But it was her. She'd responded to her name as the guards entered, shouted at her, and then dragged her off Shinji's bed. He wonders where she's been since then.

Misato came to visit him last night, and the night before, but he didn't dare ask after Rei directly. The Major seemed to avoid the topic of the First Child as Shinji tried steering her toward it. Misato told him that she'd be back again tonight, this time to take him home.

_Where will Rei be…?_ he wonders. _Where will Kaagi be…? Will they be together?_

As if there weren't enough of a gulf between him and the First Child, filled with fear, anxiety, and uncertainty, there loomed another obstacle in the form of Kaagi Chuda. Shinji had just begun being able to tolerate the boy when, suddenly, Kaagi was no longer just another boy. As much as Shinji repeats it in his head, it doesn't feel real, like being told about daylight but never actually seeing the sun.

_Kaagi is my brother,_ he tells himself again. He's had all of three days of consciousness to get used to it. _Why didn't you tell me, Father…? I've always felt so alone. You left me alone! But I didn't have to be. I could have had a brother…._

When he first began living with his teacher, Shinji used to imagine that he had other family, uncles and aunts and cousins, who would come find him and take him away. He didn't want to think that the only person in the world like him was his father. And now there is someone else. Though Kaagi is unlike him in so many ways, at the heart of it, they're both abandoned children of Gendo Ikari.

But where their differences once stood between them, a similarity other than their lineage now threatens to keep them at odds. Shinji, too, has developed an infatuation with Rei, because of a simple kiss and despite what he knows about her unnatural origins. And he realizes that if he ever hopes to feel the touch of her lips again, it will mean turning his back on Kaagi… just like his father did to both of them.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

A soft rapping on her office door stirs Misato Katsuragi from her daydreaming. Before bidding her visitor to enter, she quickly tries to appear busy by spreading papers all over her desk. When Yoshi does walk in, Misato notices the effect is completely ruined by her inability to locate a writing utensil.

"Good morning, Major," he says. Yoshi pauses, unsure of how to broach the subject. "Um… I assume you got my phone messages."

"Yeah, sorry," Misato says. "It's been really hectic lately, you know?" Yoshi agrees, but says nothing more. His brow furrows as he tries to find the words, a task not made easier by Misato expectantly waiting.

"May I speak with you candidly?" he asks finally. Misato nods warily, and he slowly continues. "This morning, Dr. Aida shared with me some things his son told him. A lot of it concerned some rather troubling behavior on the part of the Second Child. I just wanted to ask you how she was handling everything."

"Everything?" Misato asks him.

"Well, I imagine the apparent deaths of two of her fellow pilots affected her somehow. And I was pretty shocked myself when I found out they were actually alive."

"I've only talked to her twice in that time," Misato admits. "Once on Friday, when I told her they'd died, and then again on Sunday, when I found out that they were okay. I had to work Saturday, and Asuka had a lot of homework last night."

"That's all?"

"She's not the sort of person who talks about her feelings easily," Misato says defensively, because Asuka reminds her of herself in that way. "But she's been through a lot worse and come out alright. She's a tough girl."

"She's only fourteen, Major," says Yoshi, trying to keep his emotions in check. "I don't believe she's as tough as you'd like to think. She needs someone to talk to."

"Asuka's been seeing the counselor regularly since her breakdown. That's what we have one for."

"Well, what do you think you're for?" Yoshi asks, his frustration boiling over. "You signed up to be these kids' guardian, and I don't see you holding up your end. Shinji confided in me about how he couldn't talk to you after the Fifth Child died. He said you gave him some sort of speech about how the kid "deserved to die". How could you say a thing like that?"

"You don't know the whole story," Misato says, incensed.

"So you've said. What I do know is that Shinji wanted to reach out to you, but you made him think that he couldn't. And it sounds to me like you've been just as inaccessible to Asuka. You're not just some glorified baby-sitter, Major. These kids don't have any parents that they can turn to. There's just you; you're all they've got!"

"Where the hell do you get off, telling me how to be a parent?" she yells. How could Yoshi presume to know about what she's been through, with Shinji and Toji, or Shinji and Kaworu, or with losing Asuka for a week, only to find her half-dead in the ruins of the Horakis' house?

"Where do I…?" Yoshi starts. "Of all the self-centered…." He fishes his wallet from his pocket, opens it, and slams it onto Misato's desk in front of her. Inside, there's a worn picture of Yoshi with a little girl, standing in a garden. The girl looks about three years old. They're both smiling, and the girl is holding up two fingers in the V-shaped sign. Tempers cool in the silence that follows.

"Is she…?" Misato asks quietly. Guessing the answer, she frowns and her face flushes with embarrassment.

"That picture's an old one," he tells her. "She just turned six last November. Her name's Fumiko."

"I'm sorry," Misato says. She looks helplessly at Yoshi's naked left ring-finger. "How could I have known?"

"Well, I'm sure you know how everyone from our generation is in such a rush to get married…. I found out the hard way there are some things you shouldn't rush. I've been divorced… about two years now. My ex has custody of our daughter, but she barely spends any time with Fumiko, always leaving her with nannies and sitters. On top of that, she does whatever she can to keep me from spending any time with her either, just out of spite. When I moved to Tokyo-3 to join NERV, she got a court-order forcing me to take my visitations outside the city, because of all the attacks. As if any place is safe these days…."

Misato hands him back his wallet, and he takes it with a sigh.

"Oh boy," says Misato. "Should I just start putting my foot in my mouth before our conversations and save myself the trouble?"

"No, no… I'm sorry, too," Yoshi says, shaking his head. "I probably came down a lot harder on you than you deserved. I have to keep reminding myself, not every woman is my ex-wife."

"Well, any woman would be glad to be," Misato says fawningly. Yoshi forces a smile at the attempted compliment, and Misato turns even redder. "Ugh… that didn't come out right. I meant… you know what I meant…."

"You meant quitting while you're ahead isn't your strong suit?" he jokes.

"Right…."

Outside Misato's office, Kaji listens to the friendly, nervous laughter within. Where ever Kaji might be physically, in his mind he's always miles away or ten steps ahead. Except when he's with her. Something about Misato always holds his interest, keeping him firmly planted in the now. For a man in his position, such a blinding of his foresight is dangerous. But he wouldn't be in his position if he didn't thrive on danger.

"_Ritsuko, I'd like you to meet Kaji! Ryoji Kaji." _He remembers Misato's unabashed enthusiasm, her child-like excitement, at her best friend finally meeting her boyfriend. Ritsuko shared none of the qualities with Misato that Kaji found attractive, but she also lacked those little things about Misato that had come to annoy him. That, in itself, was dangerously attractive. Throughout college, Kaji thrived.

"A very fateful meeting, as it turned out," he says to the empty hall. He wonders if there's still a chance for things to be like they were. He wonders if having things as they were is what really he wants, or what Misato would want.

"I love you, Katsuragi."

_I promised I'd say the words,_ he thinks. _I didn't promise I'd let you hear them…._

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The lights come up suddenly in Isolation Room 4. Its sole occupant doesn't wince or blink at the change, only staring straight ahead at the door. Soon, someone enters. Rei Ayanami studies the new arrival's features and clothes in the dim, red light of the NERV logo. "God's in his heaven. All's right with the world," it reads. Rei's visitor takes a moment to re-read the words before turning to her.

"Do you believe that all your memories have returned?"

There's a chair in the room, but Rei crouches in a corner with her knees pulled up to her chin. She sits nude before her interrogator. She'd taken off her plug-suit, because it isn't intended for long-term wear. She glances to the side for a second before nodding in answer to the question.

"Stand up." Rei does as she's commanded, and a satisfied smirk creeps onto the face of her visitor. "Tell me everything you remember."

Rei begins at the very beginning. It takes a long time, even with encouragement to skip less important details, but she eventually comes to the events of recent weeks. She hesitantly relates her encounters Kaworu, his strange statements about Shinji, and the visions he showed her within Unit-01.

"I saw what you did to the Third Child in his hospital room, after you attacked the Sixth," Rei is told. She blushes and looks away.

"Please… don't tell Commander Ikari," Rei requests.

Ritsuko smiles.

She presumes that Rei is ashamed of what happened, and she revels in it. In actuality, Rei's primary concern is for Shinji's safety. She remembers what the Commander did to Kaagi, and she would spare Shinji a similar fate if she can. Underneath that, though, lies guilt wrought by confusion. She can't rationalize her feeling of attachment to all three of them, mixed as it is with pain, shame, and anger of equally unknown basses.

"Don't worry, I won't tell him," Ritsuko says gently. "I won't tell him any of this. And I want you to know that I truly appreciate you confiding in me. We're so alike, you and I… even more so, since I emptied of the Room of Gaf. Did Commander Ikari tell you that I was responsible for that?" Rei nods, still not looking at the new Vice-Commander. "I thought you might hate me, for taking away your immortality."

"I've only known hate for one person," Rei says. She pauses in thought. "I believe I've escaped him, somehow."

"Good…," says Ritsuko. "I wouldn't want any adverse feelings compromising our new relationship. I am the Commander's right hand, now. You owe me the same deference that you give to him. Do you understand?" Rei brings her eyes to meet Ritsuko's, and she nods once more. The older woman replies with a smile of confidence. "That's fine, then. Oh, and by the way… I love what you've done with your hair…."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Over the course of the school day, Kaagi had caught snippets of what occurred during his absence. He was at a loss trying to piece together all the conflicting and exaggerated tales of Asuka and Rei's fight, the Angel attack, his reported death, and the animosity between Hikari and Toji. At the end of class, he finally got a fairly accurate account from Kensuke, who had approached the Sixth Child in an effort to avoid an ill-tempered Fourth.

"So, the girls were fighting over me?" Kaagi asks.

"Well, I think there were other issues besides you…."

_Wow!_ Kaagi thinks, completely ignoring the last thing Kensuke said_. Rei still likes me! At least, she did a week ago. What happened Sunday… hell, I don't know. I wish she were here today so I could talk to her._

Elsewhere in the room, Toji is preparing to depart. He's so preoccupied with despairing thoughts of Hikari that it takes him quite a while to notice Kensuke and Kaagi talking. When he does, a surge of un-vented hostility causes him to baselessly blame the newest Eva pilot for the pervading air of misfortune. He rudely pushes his way through a throng of other students to approach the pair.

"What are you doing talking to this guy?" Toji asks Kensuke. "We're Shinji's friends, not his."

"But-" Kensuke starts. His words are cut off as Toji hoists him from his seat.

"C'mon, let's go."

_Jeez!_ thinks Kensuke_. Toji's really mad at himself for messing things up with Hikari, but he's taking it out on everyone else._ He gives a covert, apologetic shrug to Kaagi as he's dragged from the classroom by his friend.

The Sixth Child solemnly searches the room for any remaining bastion of friendship. For three weeks, he's called Tokyo-3 his home. The days spent at NERV HQ and NASA notwithstanding, he's attended school here the whole time. But he realizes that he's spent all of that time trying to become friends with only Rei or Shinji, both of whom he wouldn't blame for hating him right now. He can barely even put names to any of the other kids' faces.

Kaagi puts away his desk-top computer and then gathers his books and supplies. One familiar face does remain as always, overseeing the work of the students assigned to clean. Kaagi shuffles over to her, ineptly attempting to make it appear as if he wasn't going out of his way to do so.

"Hey, Hikari…," he begins tentatively.

"I'm sorry, Kaagi," Hikari replies tersely. "I've got a very low tolerance right now for people who can't keep their lips to themselves."

He keeps standing there a moment or two longer, but Hikari ignores him until he decides to leave. Eventually, Kaagi makes his way out of the school and into the parking lot. Most everyone has left by now, and he starts walking through the empty lot in no particular direction. As he does, a car pulls up on his left from behind him. The window rolls down and Misato sticks her head out.

"Get in!" she says. Kaagi sees Asuka in the backseat, openly displeased by the prospect of him entering the car. Misato frowns with frustration as he disregards her command. "You're coming with Asuka and me to pick up Shinji from the hospital. Then we're all going home."

"I appreciate you letting me stay with you," Kaagi says, "but… I moved out, remember?"

"Oh no. I'm not letting you stay all by yourself in that Geo-front apartment. I'm your guardian, and I say you're coming home with us!"

"Thank you very much again, Major, but… ah… well…." Kaagi fumbles his words, reluctant to get to the point. Soon, the awkward moment is broken by the sound of another approaching car. A gleaming, red convertible pulls up on the other side of Kaagi, and Misato peers around the boy to see the driver. Ritsuko smiles back at her, waving, as the Major's eyes slowly narrow.

"See…," Kaagi says with an apologetic smile, "it's just that… my sister already made arrangements for me to stay with her from now on." He hopes he's sufficiently conveying his regret. Misato's was the first home where he'd truly felt welcome, but because of his misplaced anger at Shinji, he'd left. And in spite of… or maybe because of Shinji… he wishes he hadn't.

"He's Dr. Akagi's brother?" hisses Asuka, indignant over not having been told.

"Yeah," says Misato. _What else are you planning on taking from me, Ritsu?_ she wonders.

Kaagi hesitantly waves good-bye to Misato and Asuka, then enters the passenger side of Ritsuko's car. Misato sits watching the red car drive away. But then Asuka coughs pointedly, in order to remind her that they have places to go as well.

"This is going be fun," Ritsuko says as she and Kaagi zip through the streets of Tokyo-3. He's looking away from her at the buildings whizzing by. The wind whips his hair, and he clutches his school books tight to his chest, keeping them safe as well as trying to hide his uneasiness. "We've got a lot of catching up to do."

"Uh-huh," he says, giving no indication that he'd actually been listening. Unfazed, Ritsuko tries another tactic.

"Ayanami will be back in school tomorrow," she says brightly. "You still like her, don't you?"

"Smart… beautiful… tried to kill me… what's not to like?" Kaagi says, laughing sadly. Ritsuko looks at him with soft pity, but he bristles and falls deliberately silent. She glances at the brooding teen once or twice more, then turns her eyes to the road.

_What have I gotten myself into?_ she wonders. She remembers Misato, leaping at the opportunity to have Shinji live with her. _Damn her for making it seem so easy…._

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The light from the late-afternoon sun reflects off a page in a weathered photo-album as it's turned. Fingers trace the image of a woman's smiling face. The hand they belong to intentionally obscures the severe-looking face of the man at the woman's side. Another gulp of whiskey is taken, and another page is turned.

"If you're running away, you've still got a long way to go," Kaji says to the man with the album.

"Not really," says Fuyutsuki. He grabs the nearly-empty whiskey bottle and sloshes around its meager contents. "I'd say I've got less than half a glass left to go."

Kaji walks closer to the chair where the older man sits. It's a hard, wooden chair, set in front of the table where the whiskey and photo-album lay. Kaji wouldn't imagine that it's very comfortable to sit in for long, but Fuyutsuki looks as bound to it as the chair to which he was tied when Kaji rescued him from SEELE.

"You've lived quite well, thanks to NERV," Kaji remarks, glancing around the former Vice-Commander's apartment. "Are you sure you're ready to give all this up?"

"My departure has been a long time in coming," Fuyutsuki tells him. He turns another page in the book of photos. "I wish I'd given Shinji these when I had the chance. I don't think he even remembered his mother's face. Gendo threw out all of his old photos, you know, after…." Fuyutsuki trails off. He finishes his current glass of whiskey, and then pours himself the last of the bottle.

"Well, what if I told you that Shinji was alive?" Kaji asks. He lets the possibility linger for a moment. "Or what if I said that Ayanami made it out of Unit-01? Would any of that change your mind?" Fuyutsuki thinks for a while, then smiles down at the glass in his hand.

"No…," he says finally. Then he laughs. "And it's funny, because I actually believe you. Maybe I'm just an optimistic old fool…. But no; I'm not going back."

Kaji watches Fuyutsuki finish the last of the whiskey. Afterward, the older man closes the book and stands to face the younger. His resolute posture defies any presumption of drunkenness.

"SEELE intercepted your e-mail to the Press," Kaji tells him. Fuyutsuki is unwavering, betraying no disappointment. "They're not about to let you expose their secrets."

"I know…," comes the even reply. "Just like I know that you're here to correct the mistake you made when you freed me from them, all those weeks ago."

"It wasn't a mistake," Kaji says. "At least… not one that I regret." He turns away and walks over to the apartment door. After opening it, he steals a look back. He thinks about where he might find himself in the days… weeks… years ahead, if he ever even reaches Fuyutsuki's age. But the thought passes in and out of his mind too quickly to take root.

The former Vice-Commander watches the door close behind Ryoji Kaji. He's not a bit surprised to see greenish-yellow smoke begin seeping underneath it, seconds later. Fuyutsuki breathes deeply of the thick fumes and soon falls to the floor, unconscious.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Later that night, Kaagi is squirreled away in his new bedroom with the muffled sounds of his music filling Ritsuko's apartment. She sits at a small desk, signing forms and sipping coffee. She almost doesn't hear the doorbell ring. Bidding her paperwork a frustrated farewell, she gets up to answer it.

Behind the door, she finds Kaji leaning against a wall. His casual posture is suited to the slightly wrinkled shirt and slacks he's wearing. Ritsuko imagines that he sheds his security uniform each day as soon as he's able. Putting a finger to her lips, she ushers him inside. She motions for him to follow her, and they make their way to the sliding glass door that opens onto the terrace. As Kaji passes near Kaagi's room, he can hear the boy singing along with the music.

"…So I'm sailing for tomorrow, my dreams are a-dyin'. And my love is an anchor tied to you, tied with a silver chain. I've got my ship, and all her flags are a-flyin'. She's all that I have left, and Music is her name…."

Out on the balcony, Ritsuko fishes a pack of cigarettes from their hiding place behind a potted plant. Kaji shuts the door as he joins her. She offers him a cigarette, which he declines, before pulling out a lighter and one for herself. She lights it up and takes a long drag, the smoke curling around her head as she exhales.

"The Commander will be back to work tomorrow," Kaji tells her.

"That's alright," she replies. "It'll be more trouble to him than it'd be worth to undo any of the changes I've made. Three days of sick-leave was more than I could have hoped for. Have you had enough time to get your own house in order?"

"Mostly…. I have tabs on the Section 2 agents whom I've discovered have loyalties to Ikari. Eventually, I'll find them all."

"I trust you'll be quick about it…."

"Indeed…. And Fuyutsuki's been dealt with."

"You've been to see old Kouzou already?" she asks. Kaji nods, frowning.

"As we thought, he was no threat to us. But he wouldn't be made our ally either."

"That's unfortunate."

After that, there was nothing more to report. Kaji gazes into the distance as Ritsuko flicks her ashes over the balcony's edge. As clandestine meetings went, it was somewhat lackluster.

"So what should we do now… make out?" Kaji asks brazenly.

"We can if you'd like," Ritsuko replies coyly.

"Oh… no thank you," he says. "I dislike kissing women who taste like cigarettes."

"That's right; you prefer women who taste like alcohol." Ristuko takes another drag off the cigarette. "Speaking of which, how is Misato?"

"It seems as though your replacement, Dr. Kaiu, is doing a good job of replacing us both," Kaji replies. Ritsuko looks at him, wondering how that statement was supposed to answer her question. He looks back at her. "I thought you quit smoking."

"I did," she says, allowing Kaji to change the subject. "I'm still in denial about having started again, though. That's why we're out here…. You know, my mother always insisted that I shouldn't smoke, even though she used to do it. Most of my bad decisions have come from following her example, doing as she did but not as she said."

"I think children learn the most by seeing the mistakes of their parents and then learning not to repeat them."

"I must not be a very quick study, then," Ritsuko says with a bitter laugh. "And the Commander should probably be nominated for "Father of the Year"…."

"I'm surprised the Committee didn't just oust him and make you the Commander."

"Considering everything he's done against them…," Ritsuko agrees. She takes one last puff of her cigarette before stabbing it out on the patio railing. "Still, I don't plan to languish beneath him for long."

"If I recall, you used to rather enjoy being underneath Ikari," Kaji says with a smile.

"Don't you ever stop?" Ritsuko groans.

"Not if I can help it…."

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The strains of an electric guitar echo through his small apartment as Shigeru Aoba practices. His eyes are closed, and he can hear the rest of an imaginary band in his head as he jams along with them. He's just begun another riff, when an insistent knocking at his door breaks through the chords and interrupts his meditative state.

He gently lays the guitar down on a soft pile of unwashed clothes, then begins to make his way to the door. He takes a side trip, stepping over piles of empty pizza boxes to shut off the amplifier, before rounding a mysterious stain on the carpet to arrive at his destination. Tiredly, he opens the door.

"Mr. Shigeru Aoba?" asks the person behind it. Aoba nods bemusedly. "May I come in, sir?" There's another nod, and Aoba's apartment is entered.

"I'll get right to the point," says the stranger. "I need to recruit you for a covert mission. The plan is outlined here in detail." Aoba grabs the offered notebook. He takes his time, carefully reading the numerous pages. Shaking his head, he hands it back with a smile.

"You must have plenty of contacts on the inside to gather this kind of information. What do you need me for?"

"The mission requires our quarry to be taken completely unawares. I have no previous ties to you, and I intend to keep our contact to a minimum. Besides, I was led to believe that you were the sort of person who would be most likely to agree to help me… without alerting your superiors, of course."

"Are you implying that I'm the sort of person who'd sell out his access to NERV to the highest bidder?"

"I'm sorry, Mr. Aoba. I didn't mean-"

"Hold on now," Aoba interrupts. He rubs his chin thoughtfully and grins. "I didn't say that I wasn't that sort of person, now did I?"

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Episode Midpoint


	12. Episode 6, part 2

**Evangelion: New Testament**

Episode: 6 (part 2)

"All Alone Together"

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Kouzou Fuyutsuki awakes with a mild headache. He wishes he'd been standing closer to his bed, or a couch, when he'd succumbed to the knock-out gas. He lies on the floor awhile, staring up at the ceiling, before deciding that he should get up and look around. He spends the intervening time puzzling over the fact that the ceiling looks just like the ceiling of his apartment.

Upon sitting up, he finds that everything else looks just like his apartment as well. His furniture and belongings are all in place. Not one picture on the wall is skewed. Even the empty bottle and photo album are still on the table where he'd left them. But something doesn't feel right.

He stands and suddenly realizes what's wrong. Outside, birds are chirping merrily. He can't hear the buzz of cicadas and power lines that usually permeates the city. Fuyutsuki rushes to the window and throws open the shade, surprised, and somehow not surprised, at what he finds.

The view isn't of the skyscrapers of Tokyo-3. He stares out at stone-gray buildings ornamented with Roman columns and small, pastel-colored cottages, all clustered around a lush village green. Fuyutsuki turns from the window and notices something that he'd missed before. A tiny, wooden figure is sitting on his desk with a small card propped in its lap. "Welcome to your home from home," it reads. Also, in place of his normal phone, there sits a black, L-shaped device with a single button. Intrigued, he picks it up.

"Number please," asks the friendly operator on the other end.

"What exchange is this?"

"Number please," she asks again, slightly irritated.

"I'd like to make a call to--"

"Local calls only," the operator interrupts. "What is your number, sir?"

"Haven't got a number," Fuyutsuki tells her.

"No number, no call," she says. There's a click, and the line goes dead.

The reality of his situation begins to dawn on Fuyutsuki. A great deal of effort has obviously gone into making him comfortable. Amenities enough for a very extended stay. He goes over to the photo album and flips through it with a sad smile.

_I guess Shinji won't be getting these after all,_ he thinks. _I suppose his relationship with the First Child will be complicated enough, even without knowing the whole truth._ Fuyutsuki takes another look around this perfect replica of his apartment.

"As prisons go, it could have been worse," he says. The door opens with an automatic hum as he approaches it. With a sigh of resignation, he steps out into the morning sunlight. The door hums closed behind him, and then clicks back into place.

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_If anyone had told me last night what I'd be doing this morning,_ thinks Asuka, _I'd have laughed in their face!_ She's lying sideways on her bed, in her uniform, ready for school, with her legs dangling off the edge. _After we picked up Shinji from the hospital, Misato was hell-bent on talking with me about my "feelings". I blew her off with some excuse about homework, but I knew she wasn't going to let it drop. Now, here I am, letting it all out, and you know what? I actually feel a little better…. I hate it when she's right._

"So where was I?" Asuka asks, returning to the here and now after a brief pause. "Oh, yeah…. So after Toji kissed me, I had to convince Hikari that I'm not some horrible bitch. And what could be more selfless than rushing to the bedside of a wounded boy who's desperately in love with me and letting him take me out on a date? It would've been just like a scene from one of those sappy dramas Hikari's always watching. But there was Wonder Girl, sucking Shinji's face and screwing things up for me again!"

Asuka grabs her head roughly with both hands, shutting her eyes with frustration. She twists her fingers into her hair, pulling it hard, and bites her lip to keep from screaming. Since her breakdown, she's lived in fear of the truth she'd seen: that she's worthless and useless and weak. She's been afraid that any second, without warning, she'd start believing it again or, worse, that other people would believe it, too. But she always thought that one person would never see that truth about her. Two people, actually, though she won't admit that even to herself.

"Shin-- I mean Hikari, is the most important person to me," Asuka says angrily. "You probably won't believe this, but I didn't have any friends back in Germany. All the girls in school acted like I didn't exist. Mein Stiefmutter said they were all too jealous of me, and they ignored me so that they wouldn't feel bad about themselves by comparison. She also said that she didn't want dirty little children running around her house anyway, so it was just as well that they were all snobby bitches."

"Asuka!" Misato calls out. "Are you ready for school yet?" She pokes her head in from the hallway and looks around the room suspiciously. "Did I hear you talking in here?"

"I had the radio on while I was getting ready," Asuka lies. "I just turned it off."

"Oh…. Well, don't forget, I want to sit down with you and have a talk some time."

"I know, I know," Asuka says. "But I've got a lot of homework and studying to do. High School placement exams are only a couple of months away, you know."

"All right," Misato replies, choosing to see this as progress, however minimal.

"Thanks for listening," Asuka says after Misato leaves. Pen-pen looks up at her from the floor and cocks his head to one side, blinking. She pats the penguin on his beak, which he shakes vigorously once her hand is removed. Asuka turns up her nose at the fishy smell her hand has now acquired. "At least you're good for something…."

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In the hall outside classroom 2-A, a small gathering of boys intently watches a young girl as she stands in front of her locker. There isn't a part of her body that doesn't have one set of their eyes upon it. The boldest of the boys, still demurring as the others boys prod him, makes ready to approach her. It takes him some time to think up a suitable line. Soon, he nods to his friends confidently, assuring them of his intent as well as the outcome, and then motions for them settle themselves down. He runs a hand trough his hair as he swaggers over to stand by the girl.

"So, did you just transfer here?" he asks her, affecting a slightly deeper pitch to his voice.

"No," Rei replies stoically. He looks at her more closely. Appalled, he realizes his mistake. He'd just unwittingly hit on the school's freakish introvert, famous for her icy demeanor. He turns around, laughing it off and shaking his head.

"It's Ayanami!" the boy says, throwing his hands in the air with futility. As he walks back to his friends, he shoots Rei a nasty scowl. They all eye her resentfully as they disperse, as if she had intentionally tricked them into paying attention to her.

When she walks into the classroom, Rei overhears some of the girls in the class whispering to each other. She catches words like "cheap dye-job" and "finally went out in the daylight". Without looking at the girls, she can tell that she's the subject of their discussion. She's put off by their spiteful tone, but she doesn't understand exactly what they're talking about.

Asuka watches Shinji and Kaagi stare at Rei as she takes her seat. She hadn't been one of the girls whispering. Tokyo-3 wasn't as bad as Germany, where the other girls ignored her out of jealousy. She just hadn't bothered trying to make any friends besides Hikari, preemptively taking away their ability to exclude her. It was strangely empowering, but definitely lonely. It's only pride that's keeping her from making further apologies to try to get back into Hikari's good graces. But pride is something that Asuka has in overabundance.

Toji barely notes the return of Ayanami or Shinji to class. He's venting his emotions into his notebook, doodling secret fantasies about Asuka. He draws hunched over, with his arms held around the page like a wall so no one will even glimpse his art by chance. He would die of embarrassment if anyone saw his crude rendering of him impaling the pretty red-head… or the one where he's decapitating her… or the one where he's pushing her off a building.

Kensuke spends his time before the start of class looking sadly at his friends. Toji's too wrapped up in self-pity to even acknowledge the people with whom he isn't fighting. And Kaagi seems just as lost. Every stray look around the room he takes always lands firmly upon Rei. Shinji appears even more reserved than usual, though Kensuke has no way of knowing that he's troubled by more than just his recent brush with death. Hikari's going stiffly about her duties, showing no trace of the satisfaction they usually bring her. And Asuka just looks grimly forward, giving the impression to anyone who might approach her that to do so could be fatal.

_We're all here together…,_ Kensuke thinks, _but we're still all alone…._

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After school, Shinji slumps on the couch, staring at the television. On his first attempt to find a program, he'd come across a romance, but it was hardly a diversion. The drama on the screen only dredged up memories of the story of Asuka's kissing Kaagi, leading to her fight with Rei, which he'd heard recounted at least a dozen times at school today. On another channel, there was a sci-fi action movie. That one had reminded him too much of work. The third channel that he tried was showing a tale of star-crossed love between a human and an alien, set against a backdrop of interstellar war. In the end, he'd settled on the weather report. Tonight, there's a chance of rain.

Asuka is currently making dinner in the kitchen. Misato had left a message on the machine saying that she'd be home late from work. Occasionally, the Second Child peeks into the living room at Shinji. She hasn't talked to him since he came home from the hospital, because she's afraid that whatever she might try to say to him would instead spill out as "I saw you kissing Rei". And while she had secretly practiced scenarios in which she taunted him with that knowledge, every time she said it aloud, it came out sounding as though she was jealous.

_I'm not jealous!_ she thinks. _I'm just pissed off that Wonder Girl butted in again. I really don't get what she's up to…. If it's over between her and Kaagi, she sure hasn't told him. If it's on with her and Shinji, it doesn't look like she's told him either. I wonder if that coy little bitch isn't stringing both of them along! I bet she thinks that would really piss me off. Ha! As if I'm interested in either of those two…._

_Why do I care so much whether people like me?_ Shinji asks himself_. I finally figured out that Asuka doesn't care about me, and it didn't hurt at all…. No, that's not true…. I was just numb from the shock. I'd always hoped that she did like me, in secret. I wanted to hurt Kaagi in that alley, so I could give him my pain before I felt it. Kaagi… how does he feel about me? He hated me, and I resented it until I found out why. Does he still hate me? I won't know unless I ask him, but I don't think I could stand to know that my brother hates me as much as he hates my father. I'm not like my father! I don't deserve that! I didn't take Rei away from Kaagi. She kissed me! And I still don't really know how Ayanami feels…. I guess that means I can still hope when it comes to her._

_Okay,_ thinks Asuka, _so everything didn't go as planned…. Does that mean I'm just going to give up trying to make Hikari my friend again? Asuka Langley Soryu is not a quitter!_

_Nothing's going to change,_ Shinji thinks_. If I just keep sitting here, I'll never know how Rei or Kaagi feel. I can either keep trying to not care, or go talk to one of them. I have to stop waiting around for something to happen._

_I mean, what the hell's stopping me? _Asuka thinks. _I could just ask Shinji out now!_

"Shinji, I--" Asuka starts.

"I have to go," Shinji interrupts absent-mindedly. He'd barely even heard Asuka over his own thoughts. Heeding neither her nor the graying sky, he rushes out the door with only the clothes on his back. Asuka watches him go, immobilized by shock. Seconds later, her shock is rammed into by an oncoming freight-train of anger.

"Verdammt!" she shouts. She smacks her own forehead squarely with her palm. Then, thrusting her fists down at her sides, she throws her head back and screams, "Idiot!"

When Asuka looks forward again, she finds a warm-water penguin eyeing her curiously.

"I meant him!" she clarifies loudly.

Pen-pen appears to shrug, then continues on to the kitchen. A thrown couch-cushion misses him by inches.

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Shigeru Aoba stands on a nondescript street corner, looking furtively up and down each roadway. He checks his watch with undue frequency, as the gathering clouds make an estimation of the current time by solar position impossible. An umbrella is tucked under his right arm. It was tucked under his left, but it'd fallen out the first time he'd checked his watch.

"You're a little late, aren't you?" he asks, once the other party has arrived.

"I'm sorry," is the reply. "I underestimated the time it would take to make these." Aoba is handed a large, manila envelope. After checking the contents, he frowns.

"You're sure this is all it will take?"

"Thanks to you, none of the pilots will suspect a thing. Ayanami and Shinji are conditioned to obey, like good soldiers. Curiosity will drive the others."

"You sound pretty confident."

"I have to be…. I left the hardest parts for myself."

Aoba frowns, shrugs, and looks away down the road. He turns to go, but is caught by the sleeve. His co-conspirator presses a small, yellow envelope into his hand and Aoba looks at it with confusion.

"This isn't the payment we discussed," he says suspiciously.

"I know…. It's a little something extra, to show my appreciation."

Not wanting to argue, Aoba pockets the little envelope and then zips the larger one up inside his jacket. Raindrops soon begin to fall, and he unfurls his umbrella. He turns to go once more, hearing the sound of running footsteps disappearing behind him. Cool and collected, he doesn't look back before heading off in the opposite direction.

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Outside Kaagi's window, lightning flashes. Rain beats against it, flowing in rivulets down the glass and distorting his view of the city in the distance. He has decided, however, to not allow the weather or recent events to depress him. Currently, his stereo is blaring and he's dancing to the music, albeit rather badly.

Kaagi struts around his room, moving his shoulders back and forth to the beat. He jumps around sometimes, too, swiveling and thrusting his hips while bobbing his head up and down. Every now and then, he spins in a circle, coming to a stop with his head held down and one arm pointed skyward.

"If you didn't come to party, don't bother knockin' on my door," he sings, tapping his fingers in the air to mime playing a synthesizer. "I've got a lion in my pocket, and, baby, he's ready to roar…!"

Kaagi's impromptu dancing grinds to a halt when he turns a one-eighty and sees Ritsuko standing in his open doorway. He gasps and then makes wild, vaguely apologetic hand-gestures as he tries to stop the music without taking his eyes off her. He's certain that if looks away at all, she'll be covertly laughing at him. Finally, he succeeds in blindly locating the stereo's power switch.

"I'm sorry to interrupt," Ritsuko says jokingly, "but someone's dropped by to see you."

"Oh," he says, smiling despite his embarrassment. Kaagi rubs the back of his neck nervously. "Uh… okay." Ritsuko takes a step toward him and leans in even closer.

"So," she whispers, "you might want to put on some pants."

Kaagi turns instantly red, trying to cover with his arms what his underwear was barely adequately covering seconds before. Ritsuko smiles politely before leaving him alone to dress. He does so quickly, feverishly wondering who his visitor may be. In his hurry, he manages to fall over twice.

"You won't be running any sync tests tomorrow, like the other pilots," he hears Ritsuko tell someone as he makes his way the living room. "The boys really did a number on your Eva; Dr. Henflick would be would be aghast…. But do report in anyway."

"Yes, ma'am."

The visitor he finds is the one he's been telling himself that he wanted, but when he sees her, his insides clench with fear. Ritsuko sits in another chair, sipping brandy and lounging lazily. She stops talking and turns to look at Kaagi when he joins them, which, in turn, draws the attention of the girl on the couch. Rei Ayanami looks at him, and he feels the clenching tighten.

She follows Kaagi with her eyes as he walks stiffly over and takes a seat next to her. Rei looks forward again while Kaagi stares down at the floor. Periodically, he'll raise just his eyes to look at Ritsuko. Each time he does, his face grows more and more contorted, until she finally gets the message.

"You know," she announces, "I just remembered something that I have to do… somewhere else." Scooping up her drink from a side table, she retires to her bedroom to give the boy and girl on the couch some privacy. It bothers her to leave, but she's hopeful that she can ply the details of the conversation from her brother later.

Lightning flashes again outside the window. Kaagi jumps, startled, but Rei does not.

"I've come to apologize…," she says finally, "for attacking you."

"Oh…," Kaagi says, disappointed. Rei's words seem insincere, issuing forth like she was reading them from a script. "But I guess you still hate me." Rei still doesn't look at him.

"Why?" she asks.

"Why?" he repeats, shaking his head in disbelief. (_Oh, she's out for blood,_ he thinks. _She's gonna make me have to be the one to say it…. I guess I might as well get it over with._) "I know that you heard about Asuka and me…. You might not believe it, but I am sorry. I should never have kissed another girl. That was the worst thing I could possibly do to you."

"The worst thing…?" she asks, remembering her own lips upon Shinji's. Her heart drops. "And such a thing would be a reason for hate?" It never occurred to her that anyone except for Asuka could hate her. Desperation claws at Rei's chest. She realizes that she would do anything to prevent being the object of Kaagi's hatred.

"I wouldn't blame you if you did," he says, hanging his head in shame. If he hadn't looked away, he'd see his own guilt and sorrow mirrored upon Rei's face. Kaagi grasps for something to try to put himself in a better light.

"You know," he says. "I didn't tell Shinji about me kissing Asuka, not the whole time we were gone. See, I know how much he likes her, but I didn't want to hurt him any more. We did enough of that to each other on the plane-ride."

_It's not a total lie, _he thinks._ For about two seconds, I actually did worry about Shinji's feelings. It was after Asuka told me you knew about the kiss, but before I found out that everyone else did. I'd been thinking, since the explosion, that he and I might actually be able to get along. Before that, though, I just didn't tell him so that he wouldn't tell you._

"You dislike one another," Rei states, "and yet you were considerate of his feelings." Kaagi squirms as she praises him for his false altruism. He's too anxious to notice Rei's own anxiety. She carefully weighs her next question, hoping to give nothing away. "Do you believe that Shinji would extend you the same courtesy, if the situation was reversed?"

"He'd have to be pretty vindictive not to," Kaagi says, trying to imply that Shinji would be that vindictive. (_And I would have been, if I hadn't been afraid of him telling you. Please, Rei, don't figure out that I'm an asshole…._)

"The word "vindictive" is not one that I would use to describe him," Rei says, mentally reassuring herself that Kaagi would not learn her secret. Her positive description of Shinji serves to remind Kaagi how much she seems to like the Third Child, and he wishes that he hadn't brought him up.

"All I can say is that I'm sorry," Kaagi tries. Regardless of her having different hair and eye color, he still finds Rei's mood unreadable. So, he has to ask, "Will you forgive me?"

If he had requested, or even demanded, forgiveness, Rei would have given it without question. Following orders has always been the easiest, most natural thing for her to do. But Kaagi has given her the rare gift of leaving the choice entirely to her. It's an empowering feeling that she relishes. And so, with her unbiased logic, she decides.

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Shinji looks up as he runs toward the towering apartment building, rain pelting him in the face. He rushes inside, grateful to finally have some extended shelter from the storm. The elevator is out of service, so his long trip is made longer by having to walk up four flights of stairs. To Shinji, however, the most difficult part of the journey will be traversing one particular apartment's threshold.

The closed door to #402 silently challenges his resolve as he stands before it. He feels that old, familiar urge to run away, but he hasn't come this far to turn back now. He doesn't feel like the same frightened little boy who screamed at the sight of Unit-01 six months ago. But he isn't sure who he's become. He's the person who tried to recover the Lance against his father's orders, and he's the person who could love a boy that tried to destroy the world, if only it were possible… but is that the same person who might love Rei if he got the chance, no matter what she truly is?

After trying the handle, he knocks lightly. He rubs his bare arms in an attempt to keep warm as he waits for an answer.

"Ayanami!" Shinji calls, pounding on the door this time. He tries the handle again, unable to believe that it's actually locked. He shivers as the wind picks up, whipping through the exposed walkway. Suddenly, he feels very foolish to be standing here, far from home and soaked to the bone.

_What am I doing here?_ he asks himself._ If she actually did answer the door, what would I say to her? What would she say to me? _He pictures the scene, Rei opening the door to find him here. Though, in his mind, they don't speak or move further. He can't imagine anything besides the two of them standing frozen, like statues, in front of each other. The fear that she might feel nothing for him hurts him just as much as not knowing.

"_You know, pain is something that man must endure in his heart. And because the heart feels pain so easily, some believe that life is pain,"_ he remembers. _Shut up…._

"_You are fragile, like glass… that is, your heart is." Shut up._

"_This is worthy of my empathy." Shut up!_

"_I'm saying I love you." SHUT UP! SHUT UP! SHUT UP!_

It's clear to Shinji that Rei isn't even home. His inner turmoil still unsettled, he sees no choice but to return to his own home. The last of the rain stops as he steps back out onto the street. He treks off into the cold, damp night, not knowing that Rei was finally coming back, having waited out the storm.

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The next day, Shinji is changing out of his plug-suit for the lunch-break. He still finds himself obsessing about Rei, even after a full night's sleep and a morning full of sync-tests. It only added to her mystique that she was sequestered away from the rest of them, undergoing undisclosed tests, since Unit-07 is still regenerating.

As Shinji reaches into his locker and grabs his street clothes, a small piece of paper flutters onto the floor. He picks it up and turns his back to Toji and Kaagi so that they won't see. His Rei-consumed brain shoots off fireworks as he reads the note. "I need to speak with you," it says, "but not now, and not here. Meet me at the old revival theatre tonight around six o'clock. Please don't mention this to anyone. We'll talk then." Shinji stuffs the note quickly into his pocket, and then starts to dress.

"Hey, Shinji," Toji calls to him. Shinji puts on his clothes more slowly, imagining that the note in his pocket is shining like a lighthouse. The Fourth Child sidles over, uncomfortably close, to whisper, "So, what do you really think of the new guy?"

"I… I don't know," Shinji says, worrying that Toji had spoken loudly enough for Kaagi to hear. "We only just started really getting to know each other…." The possibility that it was Kaagi who left the note occurs to Shinji. Toji just nods and frowns thoughtfully.

"I had a lot of time to watch TV while I was laid up in the hospital," he says. He sounds as though he's explaining something, but Shinji is completely lost. "So, I had this idea. I asked my Grandpa to bring in some old "Three Stooges" movies, on account of what everybody calls us. I'd never actually seen any. And you know what? There's actually a fourth stooge…."

At last, Shinji begins to see where Toji is going with this. He doesn't like it, but he doesn't voice that opinion. Toji chooses to interpret his friend's silence as complaisance.

"Hey, Kaagi!" Toji calls. Shinji braces himself for what he hopes is a brief conversation.

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"Hey, Hikari!" a familiar voice calls as Hikari Horaki makes her way inside from lunch. She turns around to see Kensuke Aida bounding up to her. "I've really got to talk to you about Toji! I've been wanting to for days, while this thing between you two has been going on, but I couldn't think of the right words. That is, until today! Well, last night and today. I was up practically all night, figuring out what to say."

"Oh, gosh…," Hikari says, trailing off. She doesn't have the heart to tell him that she'd already made up her mind about Toji.

"Now, I'm not going to take "no" for an answer. I wouldn't consider myself a good friend to him if I didn't at least try to talk to you on his behalf."

"That's really nice of you, Kensuke….," she starts, not knowing where to go from there.

"But not here!" he says. "People might get the wrong idea from us talking together…. We could go somewhere after school, like to eat, or a movie."

"Movie," says Hikari hurriedly. She's just as concerned about what people might think, and, to her, a movie seems less intimate than a meal… with less light to be seen by, too.

"Perfect!" Kensuke says, with a grin that makes Hikari inwardly wince.

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A little after six o'clock, Kensuke and Hikari enter the auditorium of the old revival theatre. An usher directs them to seats near the very back, which strikes Hikari as a bit odd. It's already dark inside for one thing, even though the previews haven't begun yet, and she can make out the vague forms of only four other patrons scattered throughout the immense hall. Kensuke tips the usher generously, then looks around uncomfortably. After a few moments, he excuses himself to go to the bathroom.

Outside, Shinji Ikari walks toward the theatre with the note clenched in his hand. He stops to reread it and to check the time on his cell phone. When he looks forward again, his heart skips. Up ahead, Rei is entering the building before him. He runs to catch up to her, but an usher bars his way as he throws open the door. The man reminds Shinji of someone who works at NERV. Not any particular someone; he just has the sort of face that blends easily into a crowd and is quickly forgotten, like most of NERV's staff.

"This way, sir," he instructs. "Your ticket has already been paid for."

Shinji is a little perplexed by all this, and by being seated all by himself. There are about six other people in the auditorium, but he can't tell in the darkness which, if any of them, might be Rei. Not knowing what else to do, he puts the note into his pocket and waits.

Keeping out of sight, Shigeru Aoba watches them all from on high in the projection booth. He wrings his hands, looking fretfully from the window, to the door, and back. After what seems like forever, the door is flung open.

"Are they all here?" the new arrival asks.

"All five pilots have been accounted for and are in position," Aoba reports. "The notes you had me plant in their lockers worked like a charm." Out the window, a small blue light near the back of the theater catches his eye. "Uh-oh…."

"What? What is it?"

"He's been really sweet," Hikari whispers into her cell phone. Its tiny screen lights her face up blue in the darkness. "He just keeps going on about how great you are…. I know! Well, we decided to come to the old revival theatre…. Yeah, we're here now. Why…? You are too?" Hikari stands at the same time as one of the other patrons. The shadowed figure waves back at her. "Toji?"

"Hikari?" shouts a confused Asuka, rising from her seat elsewhere in the auditorium.

"Asuka?" Hikari and Kaagi say, both surprised by Asuka's, as well as each other's, presence.

"We've been made!" says Aoba glumly. "Should we abort the mission?"

"Negative, soldier!" comes the reply. "Roll the tape… I'm going in."

Before the six teens can say anything further, a familiar image appears on the giant movie screen. Misato Katsuragi, her face stuffed with pizza, says something unintelligible that she obviously finds outrageously funny. The scene pulls back, revealing Misato's living room, then whipsaws around to show a blur of faces before settling on the face of the person holding the camera. That same person is now rushing up onto the stage set below the screen above. He clears his throat, preparing to speak.

"That was us, almost four weeks ago," Kensuke narrates as the film continues. "There's me, and Toji and Shinji. We're all laughing about bad hospital food, even though I can't relate…. And there're Hikari and Asuka…. Asuka's calling us "stooges". Hikari's telling her not to be so mean, but she's still laughing, anyway…. Over there in the background, the new kid is talking Ayanami's ear off…. She looks like she doesn't mind it, though."

He lets the scene play without interruption for a moment, looking up at it himself. The sound is low, so he can talk over it, but it fills the theater with murmurs of enthusiastic conversation. Everyone on the screen is eating, laughing, and enjoying themselves.

"Well, I want to know what the hell happened," Kensuke says, in a tone both frustrated and pleading. "Obviously, all of you want to talk to someone here, or else you wouldn't have responded to the notes that I left for all of you. I don't know if you're all too stubborn, or scared, or whatever to actually say anything to each other. But I decided that if none of you were going to fix this, then it had to be up to me." He takes off his glasses to wipe dampness away from his eyes. Resolutely, he puts them back on.

"So, here goes…," he says, and then pauses takes a deep breath. "I love you…! Yeah, you heard me right…. I love you. You're all my friends, and I love all of you." Up in the booth, Aoba turns off the projector and brings up the lights. In the silent theatre, the five pilots and Hikari move to cluster together, staring at Kensuke as well as each other.

After thinking hard for a moment, Toji looks to his friend on the stage. He brings his hands up and then slowly begins to clap. Kaagi soon starts as well, followed by Hikari and then Shinji. Finally, even Asuka joins in the applause. Only Rei refrains, not comprehending.

"Didn't you guys already work things out?" Shinji whispers to Toji and Hikari.

"Yeah, after school yesterday," Toji says as they all continue clapping.

"Same with me and Rei," says Kaagi. With all eyes on Kensuke, no one sees Shinji's face twitch with a fleeting frown.

"And Toji told me that you three had a talk today," Hikari says to the boys. "You're all getting along now, too?" They all nod, including Shinji with imperceptible reluctance.

"But we're not telling him any of that, are we?" Kaagi asks, indicating Kensuke, who'd heard none of it over the clapping.

"Oh, hell no," says Toji, smiling wider.

"So, are we all friends again, or what?" Asuka asks impatiently, her clapping rapidly waning. Her question was directed at everyone, but only one person's answer matters.

"Yeah," says Hikari quietly. Her eyes meet Asuka's, and the Second Child lets a sincere smile slip onto her face before chasing it away with an arrogant smirk.

"But we better make sure we get that message through to Ken," Toji says with a devilish twinkle in his eyes. "I think he might need some more convincing." Without further warning, he scoops Hikari into his arms and kisses her full on the lips. Everyone else's eyes widen with shock, including Hikari's. Shinji's hands hang in the air, frozen mid-clap. Kaagi and Rei glance tentatively at each other, blush, and then look at the floor.

"Pervert," remarks Asuka.

Once Toji finally releases her, Hikari fans her flushed face with her hand and unsuccessfully tries ridding herself of a manic grin. Kaagi reaches out stealthily to take Rei's hand in his. Asuka, meanwhile, watches Shinji run down the aisle to join an approaching Kensuke and whisper something to him. Kensuke's already glowing smile grows wider, and he hugs a very surprised Shinji Ikari.

"Sorry," Kensuke says as he joins the rest of the group. "There's actually no real movie tonight. And I feel kinda bad about tricking all of you."

"Hey, it's okay," says Toji. "Somebody had to have the guts to tell us that we were all being dumb. Somebody other than her, I mean." He points his thumb sideways at Asuka.

"Well, why don't we all go out for some pizza?" Kaagi suggests speedily, before Asuka can respond to Toji's jab. The seven teenagers agree on that plan, and they exit the theatre together. On his way out, Kensuke gives the projection booth a friendly wave.

Later on the street, whenever he thinks that no one is looking, Shinji lags a bit in order to stare at Rei and Kaagi walking hand in hand. He feels ashamed to let his unresolved feelings for Rei rule him like this, but his urge to gawk at the couple can't be suppressed. One time, Rei had looked back at him and lingered when he caught her eye. But Kaagi's hand in hers had jerked her forward, and she didn't look back again, after that.

Shinji's staring is more overt than he realizes, though only Asuka actually notices where his attention lies. Her perceptiveness is perhaps due to her knowing about the secret kiss that's causing him to find Rei so captivating. It irritates her immeasurably to possess that secret, but only because she has yet to figure out how she might use it to her advantage.

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The following afternoon, Shigeru Aoba lies back on his bed, smiling at the ceiling with the satisfaction of a job well done. He takes the small, yellow envelope from his nightstand and looks at the card within once more. "Thank You!" it reads on the front. Inside, carefully written by hand, it continues, "Without your help, this mission could not succeed. Thank you, in advance, for everything. Kensuke Aida."

"Better than my last performance review," Aoba muses.

A grunt, a helpless shout, and the unmistakable sound of empty aluminum cans toppling over rouse him from his reverie. Before responding, Aoba carefully places the card back in its envelope. Then, he pulls himself out of bed, stretches, and makes his way at a leisurely pace to the kitchen.

He reflexively starts to step over his dirty clothes, when it dawns on him that they're gone. His guitar is on its stand, rather than lying on top of them. Up until this morning, he couldn't have said where the guitar-stand was if his life depended on it. He looks over and downward with curiosity at the spot where an entire bottle of leave-in carpet cleaner silently battles the mysterious stain. He doesn't want to take odds on that bout.

The kitchen is still in a state, but a far better state than it was. Walking in, it looks as though he's caught a group of sentient garbage bags having a secret meeting. Given how long he's let it sit around, Aoba wouldn't put it past the trash to have developed some cognitive ability. And through the middle of it all wades a weary teen.

"I'm sorry," says Kensuke. "I knocked the beer cans over, trying to get around all these bags. If only I could take them down to the front…. Ugh! Why did burnable trash day have to be yesterday?"

"Your plan, not mine," teases Aoba. The sweat-soaked boy collapses into the sole kitchen-chair. He slides his fingertips up under his glasses to rub his eyes tiredly. When he takes his hands away, he sees the mountain of work still ahead of him. And he hasn't even started the dishes yet.

"So, was it worth it?" Aoba asks him. Kensuke sticks out his lower lip to blow dangling hair from in front of his eyes. He thinks back on all the effort that he'd gone to, and all the effort he'll have to go to, repaying Aoba's favors. He remembers Shinji running up to him swiftly, so that no one else would hear.

"_Thank you…," Shinji said, "for saying the things that I feel… but can't say."_

"It was worth it," Kensuke replies positively.

With a smile and renewed energy, he promptly returns to his cleaning.

To Be Continued…

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Next Episode Preview:

A new face joins NERV, and a new danger looms. This time, the threat is not to humanity, but to NERV itself. At the same time, Rei and Kaagi, along with Hikari and Toji, prepare to celebrate their one-month-dating anniversaries. Next: "Perspectives/What Do You Get for the Girl Who Has Nothing?"

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End Disc 1.

Please press "Stop" or select "Special Features".


	13. Special Features 1

Evangelion: New Testament 

Disc 1: Special Features

Clean Opening and Closing

Featurette: The Kaagi Show

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Notes: First, many thanks to everyone who's read Evangelion: New Testament! I always personally reply to signed reviews, so some of you already got this message. But I also want to thank the anonymous (or un-emailable) reviewers, and anyone else who stopped by to read but didn't mention it. I do that too often myself.

Let me tell you that I wrestled forever with myself over whether I should or shouldn't write this "chapter". You see, _I_ love bonus material, especially behind-the-scenes commentaries. But, on the other hand, I thought that such a thing may seem conceited (why would you care what _my_ thought processes were?) or condescending (maybe you did catch the symbolism, and my pointing it out would insult you) or even ruin the mystique of the story (getting all the answers doesn't make you ask any more questions, and it's the ambiguity of meaning that really makes "Evangelion" endure). And there I go comparing my work to the original, which could well be construed as conceited, and off we go again…. Vicious cycle, no? Seemed like it couldn't hurt to just do it at the time, but retrospect has shown me the error of my ways.

So, the Commentary that once was here is gone, leaving only the following song notes and the Omake. This is "bonus material", so I posted it simultaneously with the last chapter. I didn't want anyone looking here, expecting more story, and only getting this fluff. Thanks again, everyone. See you on Disc 2.

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Notes: For this sequel to Evangelion, along with the "New Testament" subtitle and the re-starting of episode numbers, I also envisioned new opening and closing themes… rather like Vandread. (Ooo, whom did I see cringe at that comparison?)

As FFN dislikes song lyrics printed without permission (although whose permission have we got to use all these fandoms, hmm?), I'll just say that I think the Moody Blues' "The Story in Your Eyes" and "Nights in White Satin" would make good opening and closing themes, respectively.

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Notes: I would like to dedicate this featurette to the reviewer: vcharlie.

Thank you for saying such lovely things as: "This story has some good points… The good parts are the fact that there are long chapters and that it appears to be very well written." Your review also had many other interesting words. For those, I will decline thanking you.

Featurette:

"The Kaagi Show" by MacBeth2001

Shinji sips a cup of warm milk as he makes his way back to his bedroom. His fuzzy bunny-slippers slap noisily on the apartment's hardwood floors. Before opening his door, he is struck with a profound feeling of precognitive dread. Two seconds later, he is nearly eviscerated by a clumsily swung katana.

"Oops!" says Kaagi upon seeing him. "Sorry about that."

Shinji looks with dismay at the Sixth Child. Kaagi stands in the middle of the bedroom, wearing a large, black trench-coat and wielding an ivory-handled katana. Worse yet, from Shinji's perspective, is that he appears to have moved back in.

"What are you doing here?" Shinji asks.

"Practicing my kata, obviously," Kaagi says. Shinji looks around the bedroom at the numerous gashes in the walls, desk, futon, floor, and ceiling.

"Obviously," Shinji says. "But why are you doing that here? You moved out."

"You see, Shinji, I went to--" (Kaagi takes a deep breath) "--www (dot) operation-a801 (dot) com (slash) project-r (slash) rants (slash) marysue (dot) html." Kaagi doubles over, panting. "Whew! I didn't want to accidentally create a link there…."

"So you went there and took the Evangelion Mary Sue test?" asks a disinterested Shinji.

"Yeah… you know about that?"

"I shouldn't… but it's easier for the author if I do."

"Well, get this: I scored 41 out of 180!" Kaagi says with exasperation. Shinji raises his eyebrows and then takes a seat on his shredded bed.

"That's moderately high," he says.

"I know!" Kaagi exclaims. "I've got a lot of work to do if I want to surpass "moderate"!"

"Wait…," Shinji says, finally getting it, "you want a higher score?"

"Damn right!" Kaagi says, secretly wishing that this fic had a higher rating so he could curse in a more adult manner. "I'll be the laughing stock of every SI Mary Sue out there if I don't start taking the job more seriously."

With a flourish (and, as Shinji thinks back on it, nothing Kaagi's done since he entered the room has been done without one), Kaagi sheathes the katana into the mysterious recesses of his trench-coat. Reaching smoothly (with another flourish) into an inside pocket of the same coat, he extracts and dons a pair of orange-tinted sunglasses.

"Oh god," Shinji says, burying his face in his hands. "Are those my Dad's?"

"Nope… I stole them from a Hellsing cosplayer," Kaagi replies. He sits down next to Shinji on the bed and puts an arm around the smaller boy. Shinji doesn't remember being smaller than Kaagi, but he re-reads the last sentence and assumes that it must be true.

"That's great," Kaagi says encouragingly. "You just stay all mopey and depressed like you always are. But… um… could you try not to let it spill over into "angsty brooding"? I've really got to be the one brooding, okay?"

"Are you high?" Shinji asks.

"Only on the amazing buzz I get from making out with your Mom's clone."

"My what--?"

"Oops, again!" says Kaagi. "Story secret that I shouldn't logically know slipped out. All part of being a Mary Sue…. And that reminds me, could you do me a favor?"

"Oh yeah, from Episode 5, I forgot… I'll totally tell Rei that she was the last thing you were thinking of, if you'd just hold up your end of the deal and die."

"No, not that favor," Kaagi says. "Something else." Kaagi stands, turns to face Shinji, and then screws up his face tightly, shutting his eyes and grimacing.

"Hit me!" Kaagi orders.

"You look constipated."

"Just do it!" Kaagi repeats, earning no royalties from Nike in the process. Shinji complies and Kaagi yelps in pain. "Damn. Still nothing!"

"Was that supposed to help your constipation?"

"No! I'm trying to generate my own A.T. Field! That's the reason I moved back in, too. Every point I can earn toward being the ultimate Mary Sue helps. Though as hard as it's been to learn martial arts, learn to drive, paint the racing stripes on my Eva--"

"I wondered why you smelled like latex."

"That's not from the paint…. Anyway, as hard as all that's been, it's really been murder trying to generate the Field. And it's only worth one more point! Getting it on with each cast member is only from 1 to 4 points each, too. Even Fuyutsuki…." Kaagi shudders. "Speaking of more points… nothing I've done has caused you to find your spine, has it? That'll up my score."

"No," Shinji says. "How about causing me to vomit? How many points is that?"

"None."

"Well, if you'll excuse me, I'm about to go earn you zero more points."

When Shinji arrives at the bathroom, he finds Misato plucking her eyebrows. She's dressed in... oh, I don't know, something really trashy. It hardly matters. She won't be wearing it very long, if you know what I mean. The front of Shinji's robe extends three inches in a particular location.

"Three?" Shinji yells at me in anger.

Yes. This is "The Kaagi Show", remember? I'm just glad he didn't walk in. I have no desire to write the words "towering edifice, as solid as granite". Oh damn, I just did! I've been tricked!

"Misato," Shinji whines, "Kaagi's turning into a blatant SI Mary Sue, and the author's gone insane."

"I know," she says, plucking away. "I've got a date with him tonight."

"Kaagi or the author?"

"If Kaagi's an SI, what does it matter?"

"Touché," says Shinji. He tries to sip his milk again, but finds that the bottom of the glass had been removed by the katana slash earlier. "I wondered why my bunny-slippers were wet…."

"What was that?" asks Misato, applying bleach to her upper lip.

"I said I'm going to go kill myself," Shinji says.

"Oh…. Try not to make a mess."

To Be Continued…

Next Episode Preview:

The cast rallies around Kaagi as they mourn the tragic passing of Shinji Ikari--

"I was only kidding!" Shinji shouts.

Whatever….


	14. Episode 7, part 1

**Evangelion: New Testament**

Episode: 7

"Perspectives"

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"You want my opinion… I think it's aliens."

Two businessmen stand on a windy street in downtown Tokyo-3.

"No, no," says the other. "It has to be terrorists."

"Well I don't know about that," says the first. "Where would terrorists get the kind of firepower that could stand against our robots?"

"Who knows where terrorists get their bombs and things? If we have robots, and they want to attack us, then they know that they need something comparable."

"But terrorists attack without warning. We always know when the enemy is coming. Aliens would have to come from far away, where we could see--"

"Gentlemen," the voice of an unseen female cuts in, "I'd like your opinion… not so much about the enemy, but rather about those who have appointed themselves our defenders."

"Who, NERV?" one asks. He shrugs. "I'm sure they do their best. City's back in one piece, finally."

"Oh, they're great," says the other. "My brother is a contractor, and he's put in bids on dozens of--"

Nanako Asakawa clicks the mouse on her laptop and the men's faces disappear.

_I can't use any of this,_ she thinks despairingly.

Nanako looks over at her paper notepad, too scant on information for her liking. She taps her pencil on the page anxiously. It alights on the words "Tokyo-3 Middle School". Her eyes narrow in thought. She circles those words, and then traces a line across the page until she reaches the word "NERV" which she also circles, then follows with a large question mark.

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The same word graces the cover of a light-blue handbook, currently clutched at the side of a young woman standing on the bridge in the Command Center. Gendo Ikari examines her from the command deck above. She's smiling and nodding, running her free hand occasionally over the top of her corn-rowed hair. If she'd look up, she would catch him staring, but her attention is on Hyuga talking animatedly in front of her.

"Her name is Cassandra Burnham-Wood," Ritsuko says over Gendo's shoulder. He doesn't take his eyes off the woman below, but the one behind him knows that he's listening. "She officially starts tomorrow. Today's her orientation day… uniform fitting, tour of the base, that sort of thing. She's Maya's replacement as liaison from the bridge crew to the Tech Department, and her qualifications are stellar. For one thing, Lieutenant Burnham-Wood assisted in the programming and installation of the London Magi system."

"NERV doesn't have any operations in London."

"She's not an in-house transfer, Gendo." The Commander glares at Ritsuko for her use of his familiar name. She shrugs it off and continues, "She previously served at the London branch of the U.N. Intelligence Taskforce."

"And you approved her appointment here?"

"Dr. Kaiu trusts my judgment in decisions that affect his Department," she answers, "seeing as how I used to run it…." After everything that had passed between them, trust is a sore subject to say the least. "It certainly pleased the U.N. to have one of their operatives brought into the NERV "family". But don't worry, Kaji's had her checked. She's not a spy for SEELE."

"Our new lieutenant would not be my first suspect," Gendo retorts.

They also know that they no longer have the luxury of choosing whether or not to trust each other. If they don't, NERV will fall apart. And neither of them wants that.

"Are those new glasses?" Ritsuko asks. She walks very close to him, examining his face. "They are! The frames are just slightly different than your last pair." She moves within inches of his ear and whispers, "I'm not SEELE's spy, Gendo. When you sent me to them, they raped every secret from me that I had…. Now, I'm just doing what I have to in order to survive."

She clenches her teeth and swallows, successfully fighting back a tear. Pulling away, she raises her head look at the Commander. Her eyes are bone-dry, and she wants him to see that. His eyes are hidden behind the light that's reflecting off his glasses.

"But you didn't call me up here to banter or to ogle the new recruit," Ritsuko says as if her composure was never in jeopardy. "Did you want to know how Kaagi's getting along? He and Shinji have told everyone that they're brothers, you know. It's cute, really…. They've even concocted a cover-story to protect their dear father from being seen as a philanderer."

"What I want to know is why Rei has yet to be synch-tested," the Commander snaps.

Ritsuko takes a deep breath before answering.

"Because I think she'll fail, Gendo," she tells him bluntly. "The changes she's undergone are more than cosmetic. Going into the preliminary testing, I expected her genetic makeup to have a lower percentage of Adam's DNA than before, just based on how she looks. I was even afraid there was an outside chance that she'd have less than the other pilots. But I've taken sample after sample from her… two weeks worth and always with the same results. Bottom line is, as far as I can tell, she's now completely human."

"That doesn't make any sense," Gendo says, his jaw tightening. "Even Yui wasn't completely human… at the end."

"Well, the evidence is all there. Rei's started her menstrual cycle, too. I've put her on some orthotricyclin to keep it regular. Don't you think it's odd, though, that it only just started after Unit-01 released her? We had to suppress regular bodily functions like that on the spares while they were in the tank, but she'd been out for over two months. At what age did her predecessor--?"

"Rei will have her synchronization test tomorrow," interrupts Gendo. His sensitivity to her inquiry surprises even Ritsuko. "No more guesses or speculation; either she can still pilot her Evangelion or she can't. After that… we'll deal with the question of her soul…."

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At a table in the Tokyo-3 middle-school's courtyard, Rei Ayanami is eating lunch across from Class Rep Hikari Horaki. For the past week and a half, they've been joined regularly by Asuka Langley Soryu, but not today. Though she and Rei are not exactly friends, they'd eaten together ever since Kensuke's gesture at the theatre had cemented a kind of truce between the six other teens in attendance that night. And despite their lack of friendship, Asuka's absence does not go unnoticed by Rei.

"Is there a reason that Asuka is not joining us today," she asks, "besides the fact that she dislikes me?" Hikari laughs a little, until she realizes that Rei isn't joking.

"Oh," she answers, "Asuka's eating lunch with her boyfriend."

"I thought Fukuyama preferred to eat with his male friends."

"He does," says Hikari wistfully. "I think that's one of the reasons she dumped him. She's seeing Saotome now. He's a little possessive."

Rei scans the assembled students, mostly engaged in eating and boisterous conversation. She easily spies the glint of red metal atop flowing red hair. There's a boy next to Asuka, stealing kisses almost as often as he takes a bite of food. Rei notices that his arm never leaves her shoulders and even draws her closer if she tries to scoot away. Hikari's assessment was quite obviously correct.

"I can't believe they're doing that," Hikari says as the boy kisses her again.

"You and Suzuhara have kissed…," Rei starts, a question forming.

"Sure, we've had some make-out sessions… but not in front of the whole school."

"Has Suzuhara attempted to touch your breasts during these sessions?" Rei asks. Hikari jumps in surprise, banging her knee against the underside of the table. At times, she isn't sure if she prefers the formerly quiet Rei to this new, inquisitive one, with no idea of which questions are too personal.

"Toji is always a perfect gentleman!" Hikari says as she rubs her knee. And it was true. On several occasions he had, very politely and patiently, asked Hikari's permission to engage in the activity that Rei had just described. Hikari knows that her response was misleading, but modesty wouldn't let her admit that she'd actually been fending Toji off second base for the last several days.

She almost succumbed to his persistence, one afternoon at his house before his father or grandfather had returned from work. But a fit of nervous giggling on her part had decidedly killed the mood. The memory brings a redness to her cheeks that she tries to hide by taking a large drink of water.

"Kaagi wishes to touch mine, but I have not allowed it," Rei continues on the subject. "I found it unpleasant the time that Shinji gripped one."

Inadvertently, Hikari spits a mouthful of water all over her. With only the slightest look of surprise, Rei begins to wipe herself off.

"I… oh, gosh… sorry," Hikari stammers in an embarrassed whisper, once others nearby had stopped gawking. "But… you and Shinji were fooling around? When was that?" The two introverted Eva pilots having had a relationship strikes Hikari as too obvious and clichéd to actually be true… sort of like discovering that "the butler did it".

"We were not fooling around," Rei says. Her ability to decipher idiom has been increasing exponentially since her regular lunches with the girls. "Once, he accidentally fell upon me after I had emerged from the shower. Kaagi is the only person I have… dated."

_Yeah,_ Hikari thinks, _that sounds more like Shinji. Secret Casanova? Please!_

"Oh, that reminds me!" she says excitedly. "What do you think Kaagi's going to get you for your anniversary? I've been dropping all kinds of hints to Toji."

"To what anniversary are you referring?" Rei asks. Hikari looks at her as if she just asked what "New Year's Day" was.

"A week from tomorrow," Hikari explains slowly, like one would to a child. Anyone but Rei might have been insulted by such a tone, and anyone but Hikari might have been condescending intentionally. "You and Kaagi will have been dating for exactly one month. Me and Toji, too. It's kind of a big deal."

"Oh," Rei says.

"I guess you two haven't been on as many dates as Toji and I have. Not that visiting his sister in the hospital is exactly what you'd call a date… but we're spending time together, so I'd say it counts. I can't decide if you and Kaagi having to sneak around behind your guardian's back is wildly romantic or if it's just an inconvenience."

At times, Rei isn't sure if she prefers the formerly professional and brief Hikari to this new one who tends to babble, rapt in the giddy throws of her first love.

"The latter," Rei says. She dislikes deceiving the Commander, but doesn't know how else to protect Kaagi from his wrath. Fortunately, Gendo Ikari is not overly inquisitive about her private life, as he's accustomed to her not having one. And she and Kaagi intentionally avoid each other at NERV, where he might notice their closeness. Thus, she can get by with lies of omission, which helps appease her troubled conscience.

"Are you seeing each other tonight after school?" Hikari asks.

"Possibly later," Rei replies. "But directly after school, he will be at his apartment studying kanji with Asuka. They are both very behind."

"And you're okay with that?"

"I do not wish for him to neglect his studies."

"No… I mean you're okay with him spending time with Asuka?" Rei stares blankly at Hikari as she tries to explain her concern. "It's just… you know… they kissed each other. If it were Toji, I wouldn't want him studying with any other girl, let alone one he'd kissed before. I probably wouldn't have trusted you spending time alone with him, either, before I got to know you better."

"Have you not "gotten to know" Asuka sufficiently?"

"Oh, I have…," says Hikari. "That's why I wouldn't trust her." The slightly catty joke is lost on Rei.

"But she is your friend."

"Well, there are all different types of friends, Ayanami," Hikari says vaguely.

Some distance away, Hikari's statement is being boldly illustrated by four boys, seated together for lunch. They're still known as "stooges" by the majority of their peers, even though there are four of them now, and even though the Class Rep has gone from calling them that to dating one of them. Toji had delighted in calling Kaagi "Shemp" for a few days, before the novelty wore off. That had, coincidentally, been just about the time that Shinji and Kaagi had decided to divulge to everyone that they were brothers.

Thanks to surviving a week of surprised stares and prying questions, they can now both say the words "artificial insemination by an anonymous donor who turned out to be Gendo Ikari" in their sleep. After that false but shocking statement, their classmates tended to fill in the gaps with assumptions, all very reasonable, innocuous, and incorrect. Toji and Kensuke, of course, took the news in stride.

At this precise moment, a girl with her hair tied up in a single pony-tail is just finishing a journey toward the four boys from across the schoolyard. Toji, Kensuke, and Kaagi had noticed her walking in their direction minutes ago, when she'd begun. They'd seen every pause, every self-conscious straightening of her uniform, and every aborted decision to turn back and rejoin her group of friends. Only Shinji was oblivious to her odyssey, ironically being the person that she ended up in front of when she came to a halt. She stands there, silently, until he notices her and looks up.

"Uh…," the girl starts. She looks over her shoulder at her friends, and then back at Shinji. "I'm sorry… I mean, I was sorry to hear… um, no…. I mean, I just heard that you and Asuka broke up…."

"Wh-wha-what?" Shinji stumbles over his words in his confusion. "We didn't… did you say "break up"?" The girl glances furtively over at the red-head several yards away. She's laughing mechanically at the jokes of the boy on the bench next to her.

"Oh…!" she says, crestfallen. "It's just, with all these other boys she's been hanging around…."

"No…," Shinji mumbles. "I mean we were never dating."

"Oh…. Well, everybody thought, the way she was always yelling at you, that you two had to be going out."

"Well, we weren't," Shinji says, perhaps more curtly than necessary. He looks down as he returns to eating, and the girl who'd spoken to him slinks away. When he looks up again, his three friends are staring at him as if an alien had just burst through his chest cavity.

"Uh, Shinji," Toji begins delicately, "I think that girl was trying to ask you out."

The Third Child stares incredulously at the girl's retreating form. He'd have sooner believed Toji if the Fourth Child had said that an alien actually had burst through his chest cavity. Silence reigns while the three boys wait for Shinji to pursue the girl. When he returns once more to eating, they all sigh with disappointment.

"So what are you getting Rei for your anniversary?" Toji asks Kaagi in order to change the subject. He receives a look from the Sixth Child similar to the one they'd all just given Shinji. "Oh boy, are you ever lucky I said something! It must run in the family… you and Shinji are hopeless."

Granted, the anniversary would have escaped Toji's notice, too, if Hikari hadn't been mentioning it repeatedly for the last few days. He sees no reason to reveal this to Kaagi, however.

The girl who'd approached Shinji is back sitting with her friends, staring at her lunch but not eating it. She's making a poor attempt to hide her disappointment, but she's proud of herself for not out-and-out crying. Another girl scoots closer to her on the bench. Most of her other friends are politely ignoring her humiliation, but this one has decided to offer something in the way of comfort.

"I told you," Kachiko Naguchi says to her downtrodden friend, "don't waste your time. There're plenty of other guys at this school who will actually give you the time of day."

The pony-tailed girl is about to protest when the group as a whole is startled by the appearance of a man with a television camera. They aren't immediately frightened, for he's clearly wearing a visitor's pass. Quickly, a woman with a microphone interposes herself between the cameraman and the girls. They don't recognize her, but she's prettier than average and carries herself as confidently as they'd expect from a TV personality. Her friendly smile and demeanor put them at ease.

"Hello, ladies," says Nanako brightly. "I'm sorry if we startled you. I was hoping you could spare me a moment while you're having lunch here. It might get you on TV…. See, I'm doing a human-interest story about the real lives of the people who work at NERV. I was wondering if any of your parents or any of your classmates' parents work there. Or… even better… do you know of any of your classmates themselves that might work there…?"

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Later in the afternoon, Kachiko and her friends' faces fill the tiny screen of Nanako's laptop as she sits in her hotel room. Nanako manipulates the footage as she eats what remains of the cold Chinese take-out that she'd had for breakfast, which had also been her dinner the previous night. A cell phone is squeezed uncomfortably between her shoulder and cheek.

"I'm editing the last of it right now…," she says through a mouthful of rice. Swallowing, she continues, "I'll have it ready for air tomorrow morning, even if I have to stay up all night. A live simulcast from here at 11am will have it hitting the U.S. West Coast at 6pm and the East at 9pm, right in prime time…. Oh, don't worry! They'll be plenty more where this came from. After this piece airs, I guarantee that NERV will be begging to talk to me…."

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"Kaagi, go get me something to drink," Asuka demands off-handedly. He glares at her as he puts down his pencil and rises very slowly, giving her ample time to add the word "please". Giving up, he heads to the kitchen with an extended sigh.

As Rei had predicted, he and Asuka had come directly from school to Ritsuko's apartment. And this despite Saotome's numerous protests. Upon arrival, they'd set up their textbooks on the coffee table in the living room and gotten immediately down to studying. They'd been at it for some time, so the Second Child's request for a beverage had come out of the clear blue as far as the Sixth could tell. He didn't notice that it had coincided with Ritsuko's entrance into the room.

"So you're his half-sister?" Asuka asks her once Kaagi is gone. Ritsuko takes a seat near her and raises her eyebrows.

"That's right," she answers slowly. Her suspicion is piqued. "You're not interested in him, are you?"

"I am not interested in him!" Asuka replies. She worries Ritsuko with the vehemence of her denial. Too much, she fears, could be an indicator of underlying truth.

"Well, he told me that you kissed him… and that you've kissed Shinji, too," the older woman says. Asuka can't deny it. When she doesn't, Ritsuko continues, "Something about those Ikari men really does it for you, huh? Maybe I should tell the Commander to be on the lookout for you."

Asuka smirks a little at the thought of Rei and Shinji buzzing about, obeying her every whim with a dutiful "Yes, Stepmother". Her tiny bubble of fantasy is quickly burst by the imagined edifice of a naked, forty-year-old man.

"Don't look at me like you're going to vomit!" says Ritsuko, more personally affronted than Asuka can realize. "I was only teasing."

"Well, I was trying to be serious," Asuka huffs. Ritsuko barely catches Asuka mumbling, "I just wanted to ask you about your mother…."

"What about my mother?"

"She was Kaagi's mother, too, right? He told me," Asuka says. Ritsuko nods. "Kaagi said… he said that she killed herself." Ritsuko opens her mouth to speak, trying to find the words.

At that moment, Kaagi reappears in the living room with a cup of hot tea, fresh from the microwave.

"I wanted something cold!" Asuka states while waving him away. He never stops walking, only circuiting around the table to head back from where he'd come. The delay hasn't helped Ritsuko much in coming up with a reply.

"My mother…," she starts. "My mother and yours were actually very good friends." She hates how lame and off-topic the statement is, regardless of its truth. Still, it seems to be what the Second Child may have needed to hear. Asuka closes her eyes and smiles.

"I've been thinking about my mother a lot since…," Asuka trails off. Her smile turns swiftly into a frown. Ritsuko thinks she can see a physical reaction in the girl, just from the pain of the memory.

"Have you been taking your prescribed antidepressants?" Ritsuko asks. Before the sentence is even done, she knows she's taken a grave misstep in her conversational dance with the temperamental German.

"Is that all that matters to you, Doctor?" Asuka asks angrily, emphasizing the last word with mock-importance. "Just want to make sure that I'm fit to pilot, right? Hell, I can get up in the stirrups while I'm here, too, if you want!"

"I'll throw in a "yes" vote for that," Kaagi jokes bawdily, entering from the kitchen. He'd only heard the last thing Asuka said and didn't grasp the seriousness that had preceded it. He might have been forced to, had the doorbell not rung and interrupted her impulse to throw a textbook at him. She doesn't even take the new drink that he offers.

"Ice?" she asks.

"You wanted ice in it?"

"I said I wanted it cold, didn't I?" she snaps. In German, she adds, "Idiot!"

"Do you know that word is exactly the same in English as it is in German?" Kaagi asks before leaving. Asuka only growls, causing him to beat a hastier retreat.

When Ritsuko answers the door, Asuka looks up. It's fortunate that she is already seated on the floor, because she certainly would have fallen in shock. She does lose the ability to speak, which is no small occurrence given who she is. All she can do is sit gaping at the man in the doorway.

Ryoji Kaji doesn't see her at first, more fixated on the blonde directly in front of him. When he steps over the threshold, however, the slack-jawed redhead comes easily into his view. Her hair is the color of flames; just as his three weeks of meticulously avoiding her is crashing and burning before his eyes.

_This is awkward,_ thinks Kaji, who quickly reconsiders. _No… "awkward" was when my high-school girlfriend came to visit me at college and found me in bed with Katsuragi. Somehow, this is worse._

"Hey, Asuka," says Kaji coolly. "It's been a while." He wonders if he shouldn't have come to see her as soon as he'd come out of hiding. But he'd been busy organizing Section 2 and had half-hoped that Misato might have mentioned his return to Asuka.

"Yeah, it has," she says. Over three months, by her count.

_You were gone when I needed you the most, and now you're back, just like that?_ she thinks. _My heart and my mind were both broken, and did you even hear about it? Did you even care?_ She stares down at the kanji in her text, pretending to return to her studies. None of the words on the page can take root in her mind, because it's racing too fast.

Kaji guiltily finds his ego missing her advances, though he'd rebuffed them countless times in the past. He'd never dreamed of reciprocating, of course. Her neediness was as off-putting to him as her age. It's the independent women, the ones that don't need him or anyone, to which he's attracted. As much as this is due to his progressive attitudes toward equality, he also takes a certain amount of delight in trying to conquer them.

"Are you ready to go, Ritsuko?" he asks the current case in point.

"Some friend you are," Asuka says, lashing out at the two people who'd most recently hurt her.

"So," Ritsuko replies, "you're Misato's watchdog as well as her ward? Well, Kaji and I aren't going on a date, Miss Soryu, anymore than you're on a date right now with my brother."

"And I'm not Misato's property," adds Kaji, only to be ignored.

"Well, you two have fun studying your kanji," Asuka grumbles sarcastically. The two adults leave just as the Sixth Child makes his second return trip from the kitchen.

"Where's Ritsu going?" Kaagi asks.

"Don't know, don't care," Asuka replies.

She watches as Kaagi's usual smirk spreads into an ear-to-ear grin. He puts the drink down and edges close to her. His eyes, his body language, and his smile all scream that he has something on his mind. And Asuka knows boys well enough to lay odds on what that "something" is.

_If there is a God,_ she thinks, _and You're listening, please don't let Wondergirl's boyfriend start coming on me! After I humiliated myself trying to steal him on their first date a month ago, now he's interested? I hate boys!_

"So, Asuka…," Kaagi begins, still grinning. "I think we've done enough studying for tonight, don't you?" She can see in his eyes that he's preoccupied, thinking about what he'd like to do instead of studying.

"Well, I've got this stuff down," she says brusquely. "If you think that you do too, I guess we're done." She gathers her books hurriedly and makes for the door.

_I should probably just go,_ she thinks, _before he makes a real ass out of himself. Hikari would never believe that I didn't lead him on somehow…. Still, I really want to savor that delicious look of disappointment on his horny little face!_

Though Asuka had accurately read his transparent thoughts, there was one tiny detail of his lust that had escaped her. When she looks back, he's on his cell phone.

"Hi, Rei…?" he says. "Yeah, Asuka and I are all done studying, if you want to come over…. Okay, well… I want you to come over…. No, Ritsuko's gone; it'll be just the two of us…."

_Oh yeah,_ thinks Asuka. _I really hate boys._ She wishes that Ritsuko's door wasn't an automatic slider like Misato's, so that she could slam it to mark her exit. It wouldn't have consoled her to know that Kaagi probably wouldn't have noticed, even if she could.

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A mustached man in a lab-coat stands before the desk of Chairman Lorenz Kiel. He hugs a stack of paperwork to his chest, leaving no free hand to adjust his glasses. They've fallen askew as he's fidgeted, nervously waiting for the Chairman to address him. Finally, Kiel raises his head to look at his visitor. The man squirms a little more under the cold scrutiny of the older man's visor.

"Thank you for responding so promptly to my summons, Dr. DeMille," Kiel says. "I'm very enthused to hear how your project is coming along."

"I'm sure you are, sir," DeMille answers, trying to muster his own enthusiasm. He moves his head in an attempt see the top paper of his stack through his off-kilter glasses.

"Leave the paperwork, Doctor," says Kiel, rising. He grabs a hand-held control pad off his desk as DeMille sets the papers down. "I'll see to it all later. In the meanwhile, let me walk you to the elevator, and you can give me an oral progress report on the way." The older man takes the lead as the two of them exit his office.

"Well, sadly, our new artificial S2 Engine is not quite ready for a test-run, sir," DeMille explains. "I'm hopeful that it will be by the time China delivers Unit-08… but we want to be certain that we won't repeat the tragedy of Second Branch. We have made great strides in replicating the conditions and functions present within an actual Angel's core. The outside data on that subject that you've provided has helped immeasurably. I'm very curious about where it's been coming from…."

"Never so blatant as when you're pumping me for information, Doctor," Kiel says.

"I'm sorry, sir?" DeMille asks blankly. "I don't speak Japanese."

"Forgive me," Kiel says, reverting to English once more. "Just absent mutterings from an old man…. If you must know, it's Dr. Ritsuko Akagi at NERV Central HQ who's been assisting with your S2 research." DeMille's mouth opens and shuts, but no words come out. The information itself is just as surprising as having plied it so easily from such a guarded man as Kiel.

"Well…," says DeMille once he recovers, "as helpful as her data has been, it just seems that after every breakthrough we make, we run into another wall. Currently, we're stalled."

"That is most unfortunate news," Kiel says sadly. In Japanese, he adds, "And I'm sure progress will continue to be stalled for as long as Ikari pays you to stall it."

"Sir, the Japanese again… I can't understand--"

"Did you think it would escape my notice?" Kiel continues, interrupting. He taps away at the control pad in his hand. "Your departure from Second Branch came exactly one day before the "tragedy". And with you came all your notes and findings, even the ones which should have logically stayed behind…. You emulate your benefactor too closely, my dear Doctor. But, unlike Ikari, your treachery has outweighed your value."

"Sir, are you even still speaking to me?" asks a confused Demille. The Chairman doesn't look up from his pad. With frustration, DeMille pushes past Kiel to press the button to call the elevator. He hears his superior sigh behind him as he waits.

"Dr. DeMille?" Kiel calls. The doctor turns to face him just as the elevator doors open. The Chairman places his hand on the doctor's chest, and then shoves him backward with surprising force. DeMille stumbles through the open doors, only to plummet down an empty shaft. Kiel casually walks to the nearest intra-office wall phone, picks it up, and dials.

"I need paramedics and maintenance at the North Elevator!" Kiel says. His voice cracks with desperate emotion, but his face is as still as stone. "Please hurry! There's been a horrible accident!" Slowly, he replaces the receiver.

He doesn't even spare the gaping shaft a second look before returning to his office.

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At 8 a.m. sharp, Cassandra Burnham-Wood prepares to enter NERV HQ through Gate-7 for her first day at work. She uses her hands to smooth the front of her uniform. The khaki and red of it feel gaudy to her, compared to the olive and camouflage greens that she's used to wearing. But her new rank of lieutenant more than makes up for that.

Stopping at the card-reader by the gate, she pulls out her I.D. badge and looks it over before swiping. Her practical sensibilities have also decided that the NERV logo is too ostentatious, with its fig-leaf and brazen motto. But what draws her gaze is the stern-faced, black woman staring back at her from the picture on the card. She looks so sure and confident about her assignment, when, in truth, she's anything but.

_Come on, Cassie,_ she tells herself. _It's just another job. No sweat._

She turns around at the sound of approaching footsteps from behind her. Two Japanese teens, a boy and a red-headed girl, are walking at a leisurely pace toward the gate. The new lieutenant smiles helpfully, trying to cover her contempt for the children's impudence.

"Are you kids lost?" she asks. The girl looks at her with derision while the boy ignores her entirely. She finds her smile quickly fading. "The public entrance to the Geo-front is Gate-4…. Tours don't begin until nine, I think."

The boy glances at Cassie but then shyly looks away. The girl sighs and rolls her eyes, walking up to an adjacent card-reader. She pulls out her own I.D. and is about to swipe it when Cassie snatches it out of her hand.

"Where'd you get that?" she asks the girl. Then she looks at the picture. It's the spitting image of the irate teenager in front of her. "Well, bloody hell," she says in her native English.

"You're new, aren't you?" asks the girl as she grabs her badge. She gives no indication that she cares what the answer is, swiping her I.D. and proceeding through the gate before Cassie can muster a reply.

"Sorry about that," says the boy.

The Vice-Commander is on the other side of the gate, waiting for Cassie when she enters. The new lieutenant beams at the sight of her superior. She salutes and waits to be put at ease, smiling all the time. Ritsuko doesn't let her stew too long.

"Dr. Akagi," Cassandra says, bowing. "I've been really looking forward to meeting you. I've admired your mother's work in bio-computer technology since I took my first programming classes back at boarding school. She really pioneered the field."

"Around here, it's Vice-Commander Akagi," Ritsuko says. She rebuffs the compliment, but adopts a jovial tone. "I'll forgive you since it's your first day." If possible, Cassie's smile gets bigger. She looks at the receding forms of Asuka and Shinji as they traipse down the corridor ahead of her.

"So, what are those kids doing here?" Cassie asks in a whisper. It's Ritsuko's turn to smile.

"They pilot the Evangelions."

"Pull the other," says Cassie, "it's got bells on." Ritsuko gives her a bemused look, and Cassie realizes that she'd slipped into English again. "Sorry, Vice-Commander. But you can't be serious."

"As a heart-attack, Lieutenant," Ritsuko says. "You'll start your training with the Tech Department today. Hopefully, Dr. Kaiu can bring you up to speed."

"I got the penny-tour yesterday. Those battle-mechs are really something else. Nothing in the handbook about them, though."

"They were a secret, up until August of last year. We haven't printed a new handbook since then…. See what I mean about getting you up to speed?"

"I'm up to the challenge," Cassie says confidently.

Ritsuko raises her eyebrows and smiles her thin, wistful smile. She does not reply.

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After a busy morning, and with noon fast approaching, Misato Katsuragi is herself fast approaching Gate-7 on her way to lunch. Turning a corner, her pace slows to a crawl when she spies the Vice-Commander waiting for her. It would be too far, and she's too hungry, to turn back and leave via a different route. Her stomach drags the rest of her body forward, on a collision-course with an unwanted conversation.

"I was told that you wanted to see me," Misato announces. "And I figured that you wouldn't let me dodge a meeting with you… but I thought you'd be waiting for me by my car in the parking garage."

"If you wanted to avoid me," Ritsuko answers, "you should've avoided the security cameras as well."

_So much for that stealth training,_ Misato thinks.

"If you wanted to apologize," she says, "you're about two weeks too late."

"Oh, come on!" Ritsuko says, keeping pace with her. "I've been busy… you've been busy…. And we both know what a pair of stubborn old cows we are." Misato's mouth twitches, but she refuses to let it smile. "I am sorry, Misato. It was wrong to use you like I did, and it was just plain childish to gloat. But look what I've accomplished! Besides being Vice-Commander, I've got inroads to the U.N. and SEELE. Maya's career is getting just the boost that it needs, and Kaji is finally out of danger! This wasn't about burning bridges, Misato, it was about building them."

"Well, speaking as one of those bridges, I still feel pretty burnt."

Ritsuko's cell phone rings as they walk together to the gate. The Vice-Commander hangs back but the Major continues on. Misato isn't eager to forgive and forget, no matter how strained that will make their working relationship. She'll just as happily exit the gate with or without company. Still, she looks back and sees Ritsuko's face twist in confounded frustration.

"What…?" she screams into the phone. "How long has the program been on…? Shit! Why am I only hearing about this now…? Does the Commander know? Has someone called P.R.…? Conference Room C in an hour. Of course I'll be there…! Misato!" Now at the gate, quite far away from Ritsuko, Misato chooses to ignore her friend's shout.

_Don't confuse me with Kaji, Ritsu,_ Misato thinks indignantly as she gets out her I.D. card. _I don't owe you my career. Unless there's an Angel attack, I won't just come running whenever you call like I'm your lap-dog! If you've got a problem, deal with it yourself._

"Whatever your little emergency is, it can wait until after my lunch break," Misato calls back as she swipes her card. Heedless of further shouting on Ritsuko's part, she steps through the open gate to the outside. She's momentarily distracted with putting her card away, but she soon looks up, only to gasp in shock.

_Oh shit._

The gate slams closed behind her, alerting the few of them who hadn't noticed her arrival to her presence. A mass of people pack the exit corridor, all of them wielding video cameras, still cameras, tape-recorders, and microphones. They flow like milk from an overturned glass, bearing down on the helpless Misato.

"How does NERV answer Miss Asakawa's allegations?""Does NERV actually employ children?""Who are you, ma'am? What is your rank and duty here?""Does NERV accept full responsibility for the Sri Lankan incident?""What are NERV's ties to Marduk?""Is that your natural hair-color?""Can you confirm that your robots contain organic components?""Is NERV preparing to release a formal statement?""How many more people do you expect to come forward?""Can you comment on the disappearance of Kouzou Fuyutsuki?"

_Pride goeth--_ Misato can't even finish her thought as she becomes completely surrounded.

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Episode Midpoint


	15. Episode 7, part 2

**Evangelion: New Testament**

Episode: 7 (part 2)

"What Do You Get for the Girl Who Has Nothing?"

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In the Command Center, personnel are at their battle-stations awaiting orders. Alert sirens wail as the Evangelions are loaded into the Cage. Captain Maya Ibuki tries to keep calm as she glances at the vacant command deck above her and at Lieutenant Burnham-Wood's empty chair. Right now, she'd give anything to sit in that chair again.

_Why isn't the Major even here?_ she wonders. On the main view-screen, a cube-shaped Angel sits in the city's center, boring a hole in the ground with a drill from its bottom apex.

"It's almost through the tenth armor layer!" shouts Hyuga.

"It didn't penetrate our defenses this quickly last time," Maya laments.

"Well, this is now," Aoba says unhelpfully. Maya takes a moment to steady her resolve.

"Okay, here's the plan," she directs over the open com. "We'll launch one Eva with the heat-shield to draw the Angel's fire, then send the rest in for the kill while it's distracted. Understood?"

The pilots give their affirmatives. Unit-05 hefts the shield as Asuka checks the charge loaded into her positron-rifle. Shinji and Kaagi prime their A.T. Fields, ready to counter the Angel's. Once the order to commence is given, Toji rockets away.

"Detecting a high-energy reaction from within the Angel," Aoba says.

Toji braces Unit-05 for the impact of the beam. As soon as the Angel fires, the other three Evas launch. Toji yells through his teeth in pain as the beam's heat begins to melt the shield and his Unit's armor. Units 01 and 06 charge the Angel as Asuka kneels in a firing position.

Suddenly, the beam swings sideways, shearing numerous towers in half in its sweep of the city. Kaagi has to jump to avoid being hit, but loses his umbilical in the process. Everyone on the bridge starts as they're jolted by a painful scream from Asuka. The beam has knocked Unit-02 down, and continues to bear down on it.

Toji runs toward her with the shield, but the damage is done. Asuka's screams go silent as the blast vaporizes Unit-02's torso. When he arrives, Toji can only scoop up the fallen positron-rifle. While Shinji and Kaagi neutralize the Angel's massive A.T. Field, Toji aims and fires point blank, obliterating the core.

Instantly, the Angel's drilling stops and NERV's alert sirens cut out mid-wail. Murmurs fill the Command Center, but there are no cheers or congratulations. Maya can only stare at the scattered remains of Unit-02 until the screens go black.

"Damn it!" she shouts, ripping off her Captain's-beret and spiking it into the deck. She grimaces at the crew, defying anyone to comment on her outburst. She calmly picks up the hat, dusting it off before returning it to her head.

"Alright…," says Misato, stepping from the shadows. "Hyuga, reset the pilots' simulators for the previous scenario. Use the same parameters as the last two run-throughs. And let's give Captain Ibuki our full support; she's just getting her legs." Maya smiles weakly at her superior before reassuming her game-face.

"Are we getting any lag-time from the newest simulation plug, Lieutenant?" Maya asks.

"Number Four is working to spec," Hyuga assures her. "But once we rig up a fifth simulator, you can practice with the full compliment of Evas, Captain. It's just a matter of time before we can accommodate all five."

"No point in making excuses for me," Maya says. "The last Captain you served under beat this thing with two Evangelions and no casualties." Misato nods respectfully.

"Well," the Major says, smiling a wicked smile, "at least only Asuka died this time."

"Misato!" comes the Second Child's annoyed exclamation over the open com.

It's the only word she can get out before the sirens start up again.

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During Maya's training, a meeting was taking place in Conference Room C. The Commander, the Vice-Commander, Ryoji Kaji, and Mr. Tsurumaki, the Head of Public Relations, are among those gathered in the darkened room. They are, by far, the people most interested in the video playing out on a screen set into the far wall.

An establishing shot of the Geo-front pyramid, likely from stock footage, frames the program's title: "The Truth Behind NERV: An Investigative Report by Nanako Asakawa." The screen dissolves to show a pretty Japanese woman talking to the camera while strolling through the streets of Tokyo-3. The wind plays in her short hair and flaps the lapels of her sport jacket as she walks. It's a tight shot, not revealing if she's in a skirt or pants.

"Toyko-3," she begins, "current Capital City of the nation of Japan… home of NERV and the Geo-front project… alive and vibrant again after nearly being destroyed in an enemy attack over 2 months ago. But two more attacks have come since. Does this fragile peace exist because of NERV or in spite of them…? And who are these enemies? No one seems to know for certain. Why would anyone want to assault what was designed as the last refuge for humanity, if an unthinkable Third Impact should ever occur? And why has Tokyo-3's sister Geo-front, under NERV's First Branch in New Chicago, remained free from these attacks? In its six-year history, NERV has not developed a reputation for being forthcoming."

The scene cuts. A faraway shot of a building complex, looking like a modern college, fills the screen.

"In the hope of finding answers to these questions and others, I looked first to the Marduk Institute. Marduk was commissioned by the U.N. to locate and isolate a contingent of children genetically diverse enough to populate the two Geo-fronts. These children were to then help re-populate the Earth in the event of another global disaster. Marduk was established in--"

"Skip the history lesson," orders Ritsuko. "Just show us the damage." The video fast-forwards to show Nanako gripping a sheaf of papers.

"Over the course of this three-month investigation, confidential documents were uncovered that bring into question Marduk's impartiality. This reporter has found that many of Marduk's subsidiary holdings have persons in common on their boards of directors; men such as Lorenz Kiel, Chairman of the U.N. committee that oversees NERV, Gendo Ikari, current Commander of NERV, and Kouzou Fuyutsuki, former Vice-Commander of NERV, whose recent disappearance has baffled local authorities."

The documents, with many portions blacked out, flash on the screen over Nanako's narration.

"She'd have to have unheard of sources to get that information," Kaji says, speaking from experience. "Still, NERV could've done a better job covering their tracks."

"The Marduk issue is a definite problem," concedes Tsurumaki. "But Miss Asakawa saved the worst stuff for near the end. We can skip over the next couple of segments. She dissects the budget pretty harshly…. I'm sure every taxpayer in the free world is against us after that. And then she suggests that civilian casualties from the attacks are underreported, without any real proof. Can we go right to the interview?"

The tape stops as a longer fast-forward is required. Tsurumaki apologizes for the older recording technology. He promises them he'll have a DVD copy burned for each of them to suffer through at home before the end of the day. The tape reaches its destination, and the program plays once more.

"In the following exclusive interview," Nanako says, "you will hear the first-hand account of what occurred when one of NERV's "Evangelion" robots crashed into the sea off the coast of Sri Lanka. The witness's identity and voice have been digitally obscured because of concerns for safety."

"Oh, she's good," comments the frustrated P.R. Head. "See how she paints NERV as the "big scary bad guys" before the interview even starts?" The scene shows Nanako seated across from a person cloaked in shadows. Even the shadows look pixilated for further obfuscation, and the witness's voice issues forth in ghostly, androgynous tones.

"I was in Sri Lanka on vacation…," the witness begins.

"With your family?" Nanako asks.

"I… I'd rather not say…."

"Oh, she's really good," Tsurumaki mutters again, shaking his head.

"Of course," Nanako says soothingly. "Please, go on…."

"We… I was on the beach," the interviewee continues. "There was a lot of damage to the lifeguard towers and bungalows near the shore. I asked around, and people said a big wave had come in hours ago. It hadn't stopped until it reached some of the inland streets. I didn't think much of it at the time.

"It was later that the robot came. It was burned and covered in gunk from the ocean. It looked like some kind of beast coming out of the sea. It had ten pointed things, like horns or something, on its back. It looked like maybe it had a wound on its head, but the wound had healed. Everybody was… astonished. But they followed it when it walked up on the beach, to get a closer look. They were all shouting questions like, "What is this thing?" or "Who can stop it?"."

"And what happened next?"

"The thing collapsed. Smashed a couple of buildings… I'm not sure everyone got out okay. There were local police and U.N. troops cordoning off the area. But I saw them drag two kids out of the back of the robot."

"Kids?"

"A couple of boys. Couldn't have been more than teenagers."

"And this wound on the robot that you spoke of earlier… can you describe it?"

"It didn't look like just some damage to a machine. The head part of the robot was cracked. It looked like there was blood around the crack's edges. But, like I said, it was healed. Something was inside… the color of flesh. But it was grayish, like a dead body."

"Unit-07 did sustain damage to the cranial dome," Ritsuko confirms.

"He said before that it was covered in "gunk" and burned," Kaji observes. "Even if he could see the armor damage, how could he be sure he saw blood? And how could he describe the Eva's skin so accurately?"

"Are you even sure that it's a "he"?" asks Ritsuko. Kaji shrugs and leans further back in his chair.

"Now," asks Nanako, "can you tell our audience what prompted you to come forward?"

"It wasn't money," is the reply. "I'm sure that's what people think. But, let me tell you, NERV offered me plenty of money to keep it all a secret. I refused, though... it just didn't seem right not to say anything, you know?" The camera shows Nanako nodding sympathetically. "After I wouldn't take their money… that's when the threats started."

"Threats?" Nanako asks.

"I started losing customers from my business," the witness elaborates. "They told me they could bankrupt me. They were calling every day. I stopped picking up the phone, hoping that they'd just go away. But I was out driving one day, and a big, black Hummer ran me off the road. I got another call as soon as I got home, telling me that I was "lucky… this time". The police say they can't do anything. It's been two weeks of Hell, Miss Asakawa! I just… I just can't take anymore."

"Do you have anything you wish to add, Mr. Kaji?" the Commander asks. The Head of Section 2 leans forward and rests his chin in his hand.

"We don't have any black Hummers in the motor-pool, if that's what you're asking."

"I looked for some confirmation of this witness's report in Tokyo-3 itself," Nanako's narration continues. The camera pans the city's busy streets. "But most residents were unwilling to comment. I had to wonder: was NERV putting pressure on an entire city of people the way it had to one Sri Lankan vacationer? This reporter has yet to be granted an interview with anyone from their organization."

"Because she has yet to ask for one!" Tsurumaki shouts at the television. He settles again as he dabs his brow with a handkerchief. "I'm sorry everyone…. Such blatant lies of omission from someone supposedly seeking the "truth"…! Hypocrisy upsets me greatly."

An establishing exterior shot of a school fills the screen and zooms in slowly, with accompanying narration. Due to the special nature of classroom 2-A, as well as frequent trips to retrieve Kaagi, Ritsuko recognizes the building instantly. She holds her breath.

"At a local middle-school," says Nanako, "I found more of NERV's intimidation tactics at work." The scene cuts to Kachiko Naguchi and her friend at lunch.

"Do you know of any of your classmates themselves that might work at NERV?" Nanako is heard to ask from off-camera. The girl with the pony-tail opens her mouth to speak, and the camera zooms in on her.

"Well, there's--," she begins, looking over in the direction of some gathered boys.

"Yuriko!" her friend interrupts. The shot widens to include both girls, and the second one turns to look straight into the camera. "My father works at NERV, and he signed the Official Secrets Act. If we tell you anything… I just don't know what might happen."

"Like maybe he'd be fired?" Nanako prompts.

"Or worse…," Kachiko says ominously.

"Oh, terrific," Tsurumaki groans. "I'd almost rather that girl had let her friend "out" the pilots. She makes it look like NERV keeps little kids quiet by threatening their parents' lives!"

"I want to know how that woman got access to the campus," says Ritsuko. "The students there are almost entirely NERV employees' children. Why isn't there better security?"

"Face it," says Kaji, "we've been completely blindsided by this sudden interest from the general public. Up until now, the school, the identities of the pilots, none of that was considered a high-security priority."

"Are these children being found by Marduk truly for the continuation of humanity?" Nanako concludes. "Or are they the basis of a private army under the direct control of NERV? Who are the enemy, if they even exis--?"

"Spare us the inflammatory speculation at the end," Gendo orders. The video stops and the lights in the conference room are undimmed. The Commander stands to address his assembled subordinates. "This report is an embarrassment… one that I am certain the United Nations will not let stand. I propose that it is up to us to combat this attack against our character, before they are compelled to intervene. The question remains as to how."

The Head of P.R. mops his brow once more, exhaling loudly through puffed-out cheeks. He tries to swallow, finding his throat suddenly very dry. Everyone is looking at him.

"Well…," Tsurumaki says. "I'm open to suggestions."

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"Beginning stage-1 activation," Cassie announces. Dr. Kaiu, at her side, nods minutely.

Inside Unit-07's entry-plug, Rei Ayanami grips the control yolks tightly. She'd hesitated to enter the plug before the tests began. Her last experience in an Eva had left residual, irrational fear. Searching for some concrete sense of the foreboding, but finding none, she'd pushed the fear away and boarded. Still, the LCL felt thick and oppressive. Even the neural transmitters seemed heavy on top of her head, a weight that's slowly breaking her down.

"Still nothing," Cassie says. The dozens of readouts representing neural links remain unconnected. Dr. Kaiu instructs her to boost the gain, but a grunt from Rei is the only change.

"The Eva isn't rejecting her," Yoshi explains. Cassie remembers the morning drills that had prepared her for just such a catastrophic synch-failure. "Unit-07 isn't even acknowledging the pilot. We'd get the same readings from it with no plug inserted."

"I wish to try again," Rei says levelly.

"This is the fourth time we've run the activation sequence, Doctor," Cassie says to Yoshi. "We're getting nowhere."

"Please," Rei adds, forcing the desperation out of her voice.

"Let's keep at it," Yoshi says delicately. Cassie frowns, but her superior shrugs and smiles. "We've got nothing else scheduled for today."

The tests go on for the rest of the afternoon. Repair crews and programmers look for any faults in the equipment, but find none. Rei never wavers and never gives up. Cassandra grows more frustrated at the apparent waste of time with each successive failure. Still, she does as Yoshi tells her, and keeps trying.

Commander Ikari himself even enters Unit-07's holding area to stay for the last three tests. He stands on the umbilical bridge for the duration, in full view of the ivory mecha and, therefore, Rei. She sees him turn around after the third test to face the observation window where Dr. Kaiu is shaking his head. She sees the Commander nod in reply.

"An unfortunate "highlight" of your inaugural day, Lieutenant," Yoshi says to Cassie sadly. "We're going to have to scrub our first pilot."

"Will we be contacting Marduk for a Seventh Child, Doctor?" she asks. Yoshi, a bit more in-the-know than his apprentice, smiles wryly.

"I don't think Rei will need replacing right away," he says. "And remind me to talk to you about Marduk… later."

The LCL vented and her neural transmitters pulled from her head, Rei leaves the plug-boarding room and goes directly to the Commander. She finds him still standing on the bridge in front of Unit-07, his expression unreadable. Slowly, she approaches him, apprehensive because she doesn't know how she'll be received. The feeling is new and frightening; she'd never felt anything but elation in the Commander's presence before. But she had never failed him this badly.

Cassie, at her terminal, watches through the observation window as the LCL-soaked girl walks toward the Commander. Though she'd only met the two of them today, her first impressions of them as being cold and distant had been confirmed repeatedly at lunch by her more seasoned coworkers. It is therefore with some shock that Cassie witnesses Rei's body shake as the girl is seized by uncontrollable sobs.

Rei's quivering mouth moves, blurting out what Cassie assumes are stammered apologies. Salty tears run down her cheeks and redden her eyes. Cassie watches the Commander's heartbreak flash across his face as he kneels down to embrace the distraught teen, heedless of the metallic-smelling liquid that still covers her. Rei buries her face in his shoulder and continues to cry. He holds her, but Cassie can see that he isn't speaking.

The young lieutenant can't know it, but as much as it pains him, and as much as Rei needs it, Gendo Ikari is at a complete loss for even a single word of reassurance.

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At the end of their work-day, the Second and Third Children walk with their guardian toward the underground parking structure. Misato bites her lip thoughtfully while Shinji and Asuka silently eye their escorts. A pair of armed guards has flanked the trio since they left the Tech-lab, intent on accompanying them all the way to Misato's car.

_In a word, this sucks!_ thinks Misato. She gives the guards a friendly smile while inwardly cursing them. _We have to step-up our alert levels just because some civilian reporters are crowding the place? I feel like a prisoner in my own installation!_ (She forces a mental image of Ritsuko in Isolation 4 back into the depths of her mind.) _I am this close to deploying an Eva to clear those bastards out!_

She'd felt utterly powerless when the news men and women had ambushed her on her lunch break. Nothing in her military training could have saved her from them, without the unfortunate side-effect of her going to jail for assault. As she and her charges reach the car, she hopes she'll be able to resist the urge to run anyone over.

Misato delays the guards' departure for a moment and then turns to look at Asuka. The girl shoots back a "what are you staring at?" look as the Major holds out her hand.

"The neural transmitters stay here, Asuka," Misato insists. She raises a finger to halt any incoming protests. "Security is cracking down on all potential leaks."

With a snarl, Asuka removes the band from her head and hands it over. Shinji's breath catches in his throat, watching her soft hair cascade down to shoulder-length. Asuka shoots him the same look she'd given Misato before climbing into the backseat of the car. Shinji gets into the passenger seat as Misato sends the guards away with Asuka's hardware. She gets behind the wheel, ticking off a mental checklist.

"Toji is riding with his father," she says aloud, "and Ritsuko's taking Kaagi back to their apartment. I wonder if the Commander is giving Rei a ride home…."

The teenager in question, at the moment, is exiting through the same Gate that Misato had gone through at lunch time.

Reporters swarm her. Section 2 agents, under the guise of normal security personnel, watch but do not intervene. Rei's welfare is not threatened, though her personal space is an immediate casualty. The mob moves with her as she makes her way down the exit corridor. She responds to none of the questions that assail her.

"Miss, are you one of the Evangelion pilots?"

That question finally brings Rei to a halt. It cuts like a knife through her heart. She looks directly into the eyes of the asker, shocking most observers with her ability to discern the question's origin amidst the chaos.

"No, I am not," she replies.

There is nothing in her voice but hard, level sincerity. The silence caused by her response lingers as Rei looks forward again and continues walking. The crowd parts to let her through as their interest plunges. Somehow, they know that they'll get nothing else from the plain, brown-haired girl in the school uniform. They allow her to leave without further interrogation before returning to their vigil by the Gate.

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"Sorry I didn't call first," Toji Suzuhara says, stepping through the door into Misato's apartment. Shinji had only been home from NERV for half an hour, lounging on the couch and listening to the white noise from the television, when the doorbell had rung. He hadn't expected Toji to visit, nor had he expected his friend to look around anxiously upon his arrival. "Where's Devilgirl?"

"She's in her room, I think," Shinji answers. "Misato went back to NERV after dropping us off."

Toji walks over, leans close to Shinji, and then beckons him closer. From his pocket, he produces a small slip of paper.

"Remember that girl who tried to ask you out yesterday?" Toji asks. Shinji is about to contradict his take on the encounter, but Toji shushes him. "Her name is Yuriko Morisato. This is her phone number…. Guess dating the Class Rep has some perks, huh?"

"Uh… thanks," Shinji says, taking the offered paper gingerly.

"Don't fall all over yourself thanking me," Toji says sarcastically. "It's okay, though. I actually didn't come all the way over here just to give you that." He fidgets and lowers his voice even further. "Asuka's taking me shopping."

"I'm doing it as a favor to Hikari!" announces the Second Child loudly.

The boys jump as their secret conference is interrupted. Asuka pushes them apart, creating a space to walk through as she heads for the door. Shinji stares in confusion as his friend dutifully falls into step behind the redhead. Feeling the need for clarity, Asuka whirls around to address the Third Child.

"I can't trust this stooge to get Hikari anything decent for their anniversary," she explains. Her mouth labors at forming that last word, hampered by unconcealed disgust. "And you'd better keep up, Suzuhara, or I'll leave you behind. Then you'll be stuck getting her… what? Flowers and some tampons, maybe?" Toji fumes, but it's clear that he is not in a position to retaliate.

"Yes, ma'am," Toji drones, his mouth having similar trouble. He shoots Shinji a parting look that seems to ask "how do you put up with this?" before shaking his head and hurrying after her.

The door slides shut behind them, leaving Shinji alone to consider the paper in his hand.

In the hall, Asuka waits for the elevator as Toji catches up to her. They stand in silence until the doors open. Asuka doesn't spare Toji a look, even as they enter together.

"You can clip her horns, but she's still the Devil," Toji says to get her attention. He does receive a sidelong glance from her. "I figured that Hikari would tell you about my leg. But did you have to make that crack about me keeping up with you right in front of Shinji?"

"Relax, Fourth Child, he's clueless," Asuka says. "I mean, if he hasn't figured it out already. Don't you change with him in the locker room?"

"He has been giving me weird looks," Toji says. "I just go into one of the bathroom stalls when I'm getting my pants on. Hopefully, he just thinks I'm shy about… stuff."

"Yeah, never mind that Shinji's already seen what little you've got, along with the entire deck crew of the Over the Rainbow…," she retorts. She scrutinizes his left leg as the elevator carries them downward. "It's a pretty good prosthetic, but you can't keep it a secret forever."

"I know," he says glumly. "I was going to tell Shinji weeks ago, but… I don't know if he can handle it. He still looks so guilty whenever he's around me. He thinks he's hiding it, but I can tell."

"Ever occur to you that you're imagining things, stooge? You're not that good at figuring out how people feel, you know." With that, Toji's tolerance for her abuse gives way.

"I figured out that you like him," he says defensively, before he can stop himself.

"Who are you talking about?" Asuka asks, rounding on him.

"Well, I'm sure not talking about Saotome," he shoots back, feeling bolder. "You… like… Shinji." Asuka looks at him with repulsed disbelief. "Yep. I figured it out once, when I was thinking about the time I kissed you."

"I hope you had your pants on at the time."

"I kissed you," he continues, disregarding her comment, "because you were upset, and I didn't know what else to do. But then I remembered that the reason you were so upset was because you thought Shinji was dead."

"What, I'm so heartless that I can't cry when somebody dies?" Asuka scoffs. _You can't!_ a little voice inside her says. She ignores it. "If I do, that doesn't automatically mean that I have some sort of deep feelings for that person."

"He's up there right now with another girl's phone number," Toji goads, looking for a reaction. "And you know what? I hope he uses it. Because the sad thing is that he likes you, too. But maybe somebody nice could actually help him get over that."

"He likes me, too, huh?" Asuka says with a patronizing smirk. She remembers how contented Shinji had looked, kissing Rei as she straddled him in his hospital bed. "You're even more clueless than he is, Suzuhara. You don't even know… you don't even know what you should buy for your own damn girlfriend!"

"We're not talking about me and Hikari. We're talking about you and Shinji."

"Well, there is no "me and Shinji", so I guess we're done talking," Asuka snaps. She folds her arms in front of her chest and stares straight ahead as if Toji isn't even there. He sighs loudly and falls back against the elevator wall, remembering bitterly that he's obliged to spend a good deal more of the afternoon in her company.

_Like he'd even have the nerve to call that girl, _Asuka thinks, never questioning why she had kept that comment to herself.

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Two figures, one male and one female, work in the dim light of the computers surrounding them. Their need for secrecy is no longer as great as it was before, but so far, only the Sixth Child has gained even the slightest inkling of what they've been doing in the Fifth Child's forgotten apartment.

"Kiel wants all the data re-sent. He's afraid some of it may have been corrupted."

"Did you hear what happened to Dr. DeMille at First Branch?"

"Yes," the woman replies.

"So what makes you think that we're so safe?"

"We have that," she says, gesturing to the cylinder. "Besides, Kiel doesn't have time to worry about us while he's sweating the failure of the Lance Retrieval Project. He has to deliver on the artificial S2 engine, or the H.I.P. Committee will have his head. And to do that, he needs our help."

"Why aren't we funneling data to him from Unit-01, then?"

"Unit-01's natural S2 is too unpredictable. It worked fine against the 17th Angel, but it failed to engage for Rei against the 19th without going Berserker. They didn't take Unit-01 off umbilical during the battle against the 18th because the current directive is to use it sparingly. The big purple bitch doesn't even come out of cryo-stasis without the Commander's say-so."

"Or your say-so, in his absence," Kaji mentions.

Ritsuko only smirks and continues with her work.

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"She never mentions the word "addiction"… mm-mm, mm-mm…," Kaagi sings, humming along with the guitar. "…in certain company. Hmm, mm-mm, mm-mm. Yes, she'll tell you she's an orphan… mm-mm, mm-mm… after you meet her family."

The Black Crowes continue singing softly on the stereo as Kaagi reflects on the pictures in his hand; four tiny snapshots stuck together in a vertical line. He'd practically had to drag Rei into the photo-taking booth at the arcade.

"_This does not seem prudent",_ he remembers her saying. _"If our dating is to be kept secret, why would we wish to create photographic evidence?"_

In the first shot, he's smiling broadly, while she is not. In the second, he's mugging at the camera, sticking his tongue out at an odd angle. Rei's expression is the same as before.

"_Do you only smile when I'm kissing you?"_ he recalls asking after the second photo.

The third shot is Kaagi's favorite. Rei's cheeks are flushed with embarrassment at his question, and there's a hint of a smile at the corners of her mouth. The fourth shot, however, is nearly ruined, in Kaagi's opinion. He'd kissed her to try coaxing out one of those elusive smiles, but he hadn't pulled back in time. The back of his head is all but eclipsing her face. Still, it's only nearly ruined, because he knows that behind his head, she was smiling.

He hides the photos beneath some clothes in his dresser when he hears a knock at the apartment door. Ritsuko is still out, just like last night, so he leaves his room to answer it. As he moves through the living room, bathed in orange from the setting sun, he wonders who might be knocking rather than using the doorbell. He's pleasantly surprised to find his girlfriend out in the hallway.

"Rei!" he says with a smile. He searches in vain for further words. Wild hand gestures are all he can muster to beckon her inside. She enters, walking past the living room on her way to Kaagi's bedroom. Though they both know his sister approves of their relationship and understands the need to keep it secret, they still spend most of their time alone in his room when they meet at her apartment. The fear of someone less discreet dropping by unannounced is not unwarranted.

_Did I hide the anniversary present?_ Kaagi wonders frantically as he follows her. _I did. It's by the pictures, under my underwear. Am I wearing clean underwear? Ah! Why did I think that? It's not like that time at her place; I'm not going to strip down to my underwear in front of her. Would she even want me to? Ah! Why am I thinking that? What is she even doing here?_

"What are you doing here?" he asks, finally finding words in his ragged thoughts that would be safe to repeat aloud. He realizes after speaking them that they were the safest, but not the most polite. "I mean… I'm really glad to see you! But… it's just… you've never come over two days in a row before." Rei stops but does not turn to face him.

"I had a strong desire…," she begins, and Kaagi holds his breath, "…to not be alone." Kaagi exhales loudly, a strange sigh of both relief and disappointment at once. "I can leave, if you fear that my presence might compromise the secrecy of--"

"No!" he interrupts more loudly than intended. "Don't go, now that you've come all this way." She nods at the practicality of his reasoning and keeps walking.

They continue on into Kaagi's room, taking a seat next to each other on his bed. He takes her hand in his, as he usually does when they're together. He's been around her enough to be able to tell the subtle differences between her normal apathy and the deeper depression that she's in now. Though he wants to know what the matter is, he's a little afraid to ask.

_Is she mad at me?_ he wonders. Rei can sense his hesitant curiosity as he kneads her hand nervously. After a time spent sitting in silence, she speaks.

"I can no longer pilot an Evangelion," she explains plainly.

"Oh, Rei…," Kaagi says sorrowfully. Secretly, he's glad that he's not to blame for her mood. "Why can't you?"

"Both Doctors Akagi and Kaiu believe that I have lost the ability due to… changes… that I underwent while within Unit-01." Kaagi grimaces, recalling their first encounter after her return. It's only for a moment, though, before he tackles the issue at hand.

"So it's not like it's your fault," he says with encouragement. He's brightening in the hope that she'll follow his lead. "You didn't do anything wrong, Rei. Things just… happened, that's all."

"Fault is immaterial," Rei says, unimpressed. Kaagi frowns and searches her face.

"Then what's the problem?" he asks.

Rei just stares at him. The emptiness, the loss, the failure are all too big for her to try to squeeze into ill-fitting words. Kaagi shakes his head and smiles.

"Sounds like you're making a big deal out of nothing," he says. He raises his eyebrows and shrugs. "I mean… so you're not an Eva pilot anymore? So what?"

"But I have…," Rei pauses. _"Don't ever say that. Just don't say that you have nothing else. Just don't say that."_ Shinji's words echo in her head as Kaagi caresses her cheek and moves closer. Whether or not she wanted to continue speaking is quickly rendered moot.

"It doesn't matter," Kaagi whispers. Rei closes her eyes and accepts his kiss. He runs his fingers down through her hair and traces her spine, all the way to the small of her back. Gently, he pulls her on top of him as he lies back on his bed. She smiles a little, a gesture that's only for him… and two other people named "Ikari".

She tries to enjoy the closeness with her boyfriend. Opportunities for them to be together have been rare, and there is no denying the physical pleasure that the contact brings. She kisses him back, letting him believe that his words and affection have consoled her…

…when, in fact, they brought her no comfort at all.

To Be Continued…

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Next Episode Preview:

Nanako Asakawa digs deeper as NERV tries to repair the damage that she's already done. New relationships form and struggle as older ones endure inevitable changes. Shinji finds deception at nearly every turn, and Rei begins to wonder what truly lies within her heart. Next: "Separating Truth from Fiction"


	16. Episode 8, part 1

**Evangelion: New Testament**

Episode: 8

"Separating Truth from Fiction"

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Nothing but soft candlelight illuminates the darkened apartment. Outside its windows, the night is black and cold. Inside, however, heat radiates from the burning wax as well as the two people seated at the dinner table. They're talking and drinking, as they have been for a few hours, pouring further alcohol on top of the hot meal and wine they've already consumed.

Nanako Asakawa takes another look around her Spartan surroundings. The one word that comes to her mind is "utilitarian". Nothing decorative, no pictures of family, or pictures of any kind, adorn the walls or shelves. But there are books; so many that she can't count them, from Genome Mapping to Jules Verne. The man across from Nanako, however, could be described as the exact opposite of his vast collection: unreadable.

"I have to confess," she says to him, "I was a little taken aback by your offer to have dinner with me. More so, when I discovered that this dinner was to occur at your apartment." Her companion smiles and sips his wine.

"But still, you came," the man adds. He puts his glass down and eyes her seriously across the table. "I thought discretion was called for, under the circumstances. If we were seen together in public, there could be uncomfortable questions for both of us…."

"Oh, I'm sure high-ranking members of NERV and reporters who just raked them across the coals dine together all the time," she says with airy sarcasm. "No conflict of interests there." He smiles at her joke. A warm smile, she notes, without patronization.

"I'll admit," she continues, "I was hoping to get an interview out of this."

"We had an agreement," he reminds her. "Tonight would be off the record." She sighs with obviously feigned regret.

"I guess I'll have to make due with the free meal, then."

"Disappointed?" he asks slyly.

"If I was, it would be stupid to say so," she says, pretending to hide her own smile behind a drink from her glass. She winks, adding, "I'm still holding out hope for that interview." He chuckles softly.

"Well," he says, "I did have something else to offer you besides just a sampling of my cooking skills." He stands, and then holds his hand out for her. Taking it, Nanako allows herself to be led over to a small, functional desk in one corner of the expansive living room. While he's distracted with picking through the contents of one drawer, Nanako covertly eyes the locks on the others.

"Here," he says, handing her a laminated card. She recognizes it as a NERV visitor's I.D. at once. "NERV is issuing an official statement to the Press this Saturday. Attendance is restricted, but if you have this, you'll be allowed in."

"Aren't you afraid that I'll be asking some of those "uncomfortable questions"?"

"Questions won't be permitted."

"Then what's in it for me?"

"I assumed you'd rather be there than not," he states plainly. "If I was mistaken…" He reaches out for the visitor's I.D., but Nanako pulls it away from his grasp. She holds it just out of reach, grinning at their little game. He folds his arms and smiles back. They stand there a moment, remembering their evening together and pondering its immediate future. But soon, Nanako is making an excuse about the late hour and heading for the door. Her companion follows close behind.

"We should see each other again…," he says.

"So you are granting me an interview?"

"…socially," he finishes with a confident smirk. Nanako raises her eyebrows theatrically. Actually, she's not in the least bit surprised. Turning her back to him, she begins fishing in her purse.

"I have a spare key to my room at the Hilton," she says with a coy look over her shoulder. "If that's discrete enough for you, you can act on that desire to see me again… any time." She locates the object of her search underneath a tiny, loaded pistol. She shuts the purse again before turning to face him again.

"That is… if you trust me," she adds, proffering the key-card.

"As much as you do me, I'm sure," he replies. She manages to hide her surprise and disappointment at the seemingly knowing, gallows-humor of the statement. Fleetingly, she wonders who might be playing whom.

But he still takes the key.

_Good job, Nanako, _she thinks to herself. She studies his face and his eyes, looking for the telltale signs of lust. They're there, certainly, but she also catches a glimpse of something deeper; a genuine respect for her, or perhaps a hint of a longing that's other than physical? _Wow, you really have got him hooked. So, the question remains… what is it going to take to reel him in and get what you're really after?_

He watches Nanako leave, admiring how well her short, tight skirt accentuates her curves. He had enjoyed the evening thoroughly, and despite her droll jibes about her ulterior motives, he knows she did as well.

With one last smile, Gendo Ikari pockets the key-card, and then begins preparing for bed.

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Blinking the haze out of his eyes, Kaagi Chuda awakes disoriented. His memories are incomplete, and the left side of his body feels too heavy. Slowly taking stock, he finds that he's lying in his bed, on top of the blanket rather than under it, but not cold because he's still fully clothed. He tries to move his left arm, but he can't. Before he can panic over this, he yawns and a familiar aroma fills his nostrils. As he exhales the yawn, he ponders the fact that he's never encountered the scent upon waking before. Looking down, he sees the tousled, brown hair of Rei Ayanami inches from his face.

Her head rests in the crook of the arm that won't move. The rest of her sleeping body lies half-draped over his, nestled close due to limited space in his small bed. With his free hand, he fingers the red fabric of the bow around her neck. Then, with just the slightest pause over her breasts, he lays the hand on her side, feeling her ribs move under her shirt as she breathes. The vividness of all the stimuli assures him that he is not dreaming.

Kaagi drinks in the smell of her again as he starts to remember the preceding events. Rei had come over to tell him that she'd lost her pilot status. They'd started kissing. They'd kept kissing. It had gotten late. They'd both gotten tired, but they didn't want to stop. And then… there was nothing more.

"Rei?" Kaagi says, trying to wake her gently. "I think we dozed off…."

He'd dreamed about sleeping with her plenty of times before, but the reality of the situation is starkly different from Kaagi's fantasies. The real Rei is a lot larger and heavier than the one he imagined while clutching his blanket at night. Waking with her beside him is more of a compromise of comfort than some blissfully perfect union. Also, they aren't naked. And in his pretending, he had never conceived of any intrusion.

"Come on," calls a voice from beyond his door, "if you don't get up soon, you'll be late for school." For a second, Kaagi could have sworn that his heart literally stopped beating.

_No way!_ he thinks. _We could not have slept that lo--_ His thoughts are interrupted by his door sliding back and his worst fears being confirmed. The morning light that fills the rest of the apartment pours into his room around the startled outline of his sister.

"Oh fu--" Ritsuko starts.

"No! We didn't…!" Kaagi interrupts. He rises quickly to a sitting position, inadvertently causing Rei to roll off of him and off the side of the bed. She hits the floor with a dull thud, followed by a groggy, pained moan. Kaagi sarcastically congratulates himself on making an untenable situation even worse.

"Ow," Rei says after a brief assessment.

"You!" Ritsuko shouts at the downed First Child. "Up! Out!" Her blazing eyes turn on the Sixth Child. "And you! What the hell were you thinking?" She glances below his waist and rolls her eyes. "Ugh! Never mind… I know what you were thinking." She pinches the bridge of her nose and sighs through clenched teeth, then follows Rei out.

"No!" Kaagi shouts, bounding out of bed to chase after them. "It's not like that, Ritsuko! We… we just fell asleep. It was an accident. I'm sorry!"

"Sorry?" his sister retorts, wheeling around on him. "A little "sorry" isn't going to magically fix all the Section 2 surveillance reports I'm going to have to intercept and doctor. I told you a thousand times, you have to tell me before she comes over, and she cannot stay so long that her visit straddles a shift-change!"

"I… I'm sorry," he says again.

Rei watches Kaagi shrink under his sister's verbal onslaught. She sees him squint in order to fight back tears. But as Ritsuko's unrelenting tirade continues, Rei sees the shame upon his face slowly bleeding into anger.

"I can't believe you could be so irresponsible!" Ritsuko goes on. "Don't you appreciate anything I've done for you? I'm going to have a hell of a time cleaning up this mess you made!"

"Shut up!" Kaagi finally explodes. "Just shut up! God… you sound just like Hitomi!"

"You do not talk to me like that!" Ritsuko growls. "And never, ever compare me to that woman again, do you understand me?"

Rei exits Ritsuko's apartment with haste, not wanting to witness the older woman's ire any longer. She stands in the hall a while, listening to the muffed shouts of admonishment from behind the door. Deciding that her continued presence can do nothing to help the situation, she turns to go, only to find Maya Ibuki staring at her. If Rei is startled by Maya's unexpected presence, she doesn't show it. Maya's surprise, however, is written plainly on her face.

"Rei!" she says. "What are you doing here?"

"I… I was just leaving," Rei says, too tired to lie or evade the query. She walks past Maya down the hall, knowing that her response created more questions than it answered. Turning back, she adds, "Please tell no one that you saw me here."

"Now hold on," Maya says, chasing after the teen. She jogs ahead of Rei, standing firm and barring her departure. The First Child stops and looks at Maya, uncaring as to whether the young Captain is about to speak or simply move out of the way.

"I know that you're seeing Dr. Akagi's brother," Maya states. Rei's brow furrows briefly though she doesn't reply. "But don't worry… I also know that it's supposed to be a secret. I just didn't think she was letting you--" (Maya drops to a whisper) "--spend the night."

"My staying the night was not intentional… nor permitted."

"Ah," says Maya. Treading carefully, she asks, "Did you and Kaagi…?" Rei had heard Asuka and Hikari ask each other similar, unfinished questions enough times to know what Maya was hinting at.

"No."

"Oh," says Maya, sighing with a relief that Rei doesn't understand. "Well, what you do is your own business, of course… I just… I just wanted to talk to you, actually."

"You knew that I would be here?"

"No! No…. I've been meaning to talk to you since Dr. Akagi told me about you and her brother. I just didn't… I never had a chance to… uh, could I talk to you now, real quick?"

"Very well."

"Whew… okay," Maya says. She fidgets with her uniform as she gathers her thoughts. Rei's implacable stare does not help. "I wanted to tell you a story… about someone I used to date in college…. I'll spare you the details, but suffice it to say, there were a lot of people who didn't approve of our relationship. Or, they wouldn't have, if we hadn't kept it a secret…. It was my idea to do that. I didn't want to deal with all the ridicule. I didn't want to lose my parents' respect, just because of the person I chose to date. So the easiest way was to not tell anyone."

"Then you sympathize with Kaagi's and my need to hide our relationship."

"No, Rei," Maya says. She chokes back a flush of regret, surprised that she hadn't gotten over this years ago. "I… I was wrong. I loved this person very much, but I let my fears get in the way of that. The other person… didn't feel respected. The whole situation caused a lot of resentment between us, and things eventually ended… badly. If I can spare you the pain of going through what I did…. I mean, I'm sure that you and Kaagi care about each other, but I'm just afraid that I'm seeing you make the same mistakes."

"Why are you sure?" Rei asks after a moment.

"Well, I'm not sure that you're making the same mistakes, it just seemed--"

"No," Rei interrupts. "I meant, what makes you certain that Kaagi and I care about each other?"

"Well… uh…," Maya starts. The coldness of the question shocks her. It doesn't carry any subtext or sarcasm implying that they don't actually care for each other. Rei is apparently ignorant as to what brought Maya to her conclusion. Maya, unable to articulate her reasoning, says nothing else. Rei waits an acceptable amount of time before addressing the dumbstruck woman.

"It was thoughtful of you to offer your advice, Captain," she says in an effort to end the encounter. Sensing Maya's concerned, if unsuccessful, attempts to read her, she decides to add something reassuring. "I will consider what you have said."

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Nanako awakens the same morning, far less pleasantly than Kaagi had initially, and also a good deal later. After her dinner date, she'd fumbled her way back to her hotel. Too much wine, she supposed. But it had tasted so good. Recalling the flavor of the wine isn't easy, now that all she has to remember it by is a throbbing headache. It takes a few moments of clawing at lucidity before she realizes that the rhythmic pounding in her head is, in reality, originating in the vicinity of the door.

Nanako throws on a robe, trying not to think about how awful her hair must look, and shambles over to the peephole. Outside the door stands Mike Okuda, her cameraman, a rotund, jovial man who's smiling as if he can see the state she's in through the door. Nanako grunts out an incoherent reply to his knocking as she undoes the locks.

"Late night, Nanako?" Mike says upon entering.

"You know it, Mike." She walks ahead of him over to the mini-bar. Even fresh out of bed, clad in a worn-out, terrycloth robe, Mike still has trouble keeping his eyes from lingering on her too long. She makes it easier by pouring herself a drink.

"Jeez, Nani," he says, "it's not even noon yet." She peers over at the drawn shade, glowing from the daylight behind it.

"Could've fooled me," she says, gulping down the glass anyway. "After a week of us trying to get access to that Eva manufacturing plant, I think I'm still on Beijing time… which means I was up really friggin' late last night."

"I expected you back a lot sooner," Mike tells her. "You usually say, "always leave them wanting more"…. So does this mean that NERV guy is your type?"

"Come on, Mike, he's just another angle that I'm working. Besides," she adds with a playful grin, "you're my type, and you know it."

"God, don't let Denise hear you say that."

"I'm serious, Mike," she says, stepping from behind the bar, "you want to do something this Saturday?"

"Nanako?" he says with confusion. She grabs something from the bedside table and begins slowly advancing on him. He gasps in surprise as his back hits the wall, forced to retreat there by a woman a foot shorter than him and ten years his junior. "I… I don't…."

"The correct answer," she says, tapping the NERV visitor's badge against his nose, "is "yes"."

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After another morning of endless tactical reviews, Maya drags herself into the locker room for her lunch break. As she opens her locker, eyeing the sack-lunch she'd prepared for herself, she contemplates taking a shower first. The Command Center isn't the coolest place in NERV at the best of times, and Maya's anxiety had made her sweat more than usual. She starts to undress, but quickly stops when she hears someone else enter.

Cassandra strides purposefully over to her locker and opens it, then takes out her street-clothes and begins to undo her uniform. She'd noticed Maya cursorily when she came in. Now, as Cassie's changing, both Maya's inactivity and her failed attempts to not stare become conspicuous.

_Timid little thing,_ Cassie thinks disapprovingly. _Probably's never seen a black person before in her life. How in the world did she make Captain…?_ Though slightly affronted at being cautiously observed like some dangerous science experiment, Cassie does her best to be polite and assertive at the same time.

"Can I help you, Captain?"

"Oh!" Maya starts. "I… I'm sorry. I was staring, wasn't I? It's not…" She stops herself before she says something potentially racist or naïve. "See… I used to be the Tech Department liaison. Guess I'm just curious about my replacement."

"Really?" Cassie says, relaxing a bit. "I didn't know."

"I didn't work under Dr. Kaiu long enough for him to remember me," Maya explains. "I was Dr. Akagi's chief assistant, but I was… underutilized… after she left. Then she came back, there were a lot of upheavals… and here I am."

"Not the career path you saw yourself on?" Cassie asks knowingly. Maya shakes her head. "In my last job, I thought I'd end up at some domestic communications relay station, working the military switchboard and writing code in my spare time. Instead, they put me in the field. I had to adapt very quickly."

"You're very fit," Maya says. She'd only meant to agree with Cassie's last statement and compliment her, but she realizes that it didn't sound quite that innocent, with the other woman in the midst of dressing. Quickly, she moves on. "And your Japanese is impeccable. Just a bit of an accent… British, I'm guessing?"

"That's right… points to you for not saying "South African"," Cassie says with a smile. "I had to learn Japanese, German, Korean, Russian, bits of others…. It was imperative for working in Intelligence."

_Great,_ Maya thinks glumly. _She's more qualified for my job than I was._

"I hope I've got enough time left for lunch after having to change first," Cassie says. "Can't go out in the uniform with the Press situation as it is. I'd ask you along, but you're not changed, and I really must dash."

"I usually don't go out… until after work," Maya says, hastily adding the last part.

"Well, maybe after work then," Cassie says as she finishes lacing her shoes. "Is there a local pub you all fancy, or was that just Aoba's sad chat-up line?"

"Aoba asked you out?" Maya asks, blushing. She's surprised by the tiny twinge of jealousy that he'd never tried such a thing on her.

"I told him that I don't date co-workers… because I really don't," Cassie finishes for clarification. She pauses thoughtfully as she reaches the locker room door. "Shame, though. He seemed decent enough…. Well, cheers, Captain."

Maya sits alone in the locker room pondering the encounter, almost to the point of missing her own lunch. Later, she'll wish she hadn't skipped the shower. But after her earlier talk with Rei, and now this exchange with Cassandra, she's had her fill of feeling vulnerable enough without getting naked on top of it.

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"No, really… what do you want to do this Tuesday?"

"Rent a karaoke room."

"Don't you have any ideas?"

"Rent a karaoke room."

"Dinner and a movie might be nice… like our first date."

"We could… rent a karaoke room."

"Kaagi!" two voices shout in unison.

Toji and Hikari turn their heads to glare angrily at the unwanted interjector. Kaagi, only a pace behind the couple, shrugs innocently. He'd followed them out of the school after the lunch-time dismissal, unsubtly dropping his suggestion into even the slightest pause in their conversation. Hikari had actually been considering the idea, but the Sixth Child's insistence is starting to annoy her to the point of being prejudiced against it. She's above something as petty as un-inviting him and Rei on their joint celebration, but she's sorely tempted to assert her control over their plans.

Before Kaagi can say "karaoke" yet again, Toji takes the bento that Hikari had made him and drags his overzealous friend to the picnic table where Kensuke is already waiting. The three sit, Toji with Kensuke and Kaagi across from them, before beginning to scan the area for signs of Shinji. They spy him in the unlikeliest of places, amongst a group of girls, talking animatedly with one of their number.

Toji whistles loudly, beckoning Shinji over to the table. The Third Child makes hasty apologies to the young lady and then heads to join his friends. Shinji is beaming and Toji mirrors his friend's expression, while the other two sit staring.

"You dog!" Toji teases. "You did it, you actually called her up! Way to go, Romeo."

Shinji's friends assail him with questions that overlap into a garbled mess. Random words reach him as he sits down next to Kaagi, and he's able to get the gist of their curiosity, though he could have guessed anyway.

"It was great," he says. "We talked for… I don't know. It seemed like hours. She mostly wanted to talk about Eva…," Shinji trails off as his friends' eyes widen. "Don't worry! Her dad is a maintenance engineer at NERV. She knows not to repeat anything."

"They're really serious about this Press leak, Shinji," Kensuke warns. "I haven't dared hack into the system since that reporter's story aired. I don't want to get my dad in trouble."

"Don't be such a wet blanket, Kensuke," Toji says. "Just be glad we've got the old Shinji back." Shinji looks up from his lunch.

"What do you mean, the "old" me?" Shinji asks. Toji points at him with his chopsticks while he finishes chewing and swallowing.

"You know," he says as if Shinji should. "The last few months, you've been all down. I mean more than usual. You'd just go around not smiling or even talking. You never visited me in the hospital or called…. Hey, I'm not blaming you. I probably wouldn't have either. But it started even before all that. Look, I'm just saying that you're more like you used to be."

_I am?_ Shinji wonders. _But… I feel completely different. I've done and seen so many horrible things since I became a pilot, but it was worse after you left, Toji… I just can't tell you. But there were good things, too…! I defied my father. We lost the Lance anyway, but I did it. And Yuriko… oh gosh! Yuriko…._

Toji regards his friend's prolonged silence.

"Well, maybe I spoke too soon," he says, drawing snickers from Kaagi and Kensuke. He flicks some rice at the Third Child. "Hey, Earth to Ikari!"

"What…? Oh, sorry, Toji," Shinji says, laughing at himself a little. "I was thinking… I was actually thinking about this Saturday. Morisa… um… Yuriko and I are going out on a date."

Instantly, Shinji is bombarded by congratulations. Kaagi playfully elbows him in the ribs, raising his eyebrows up and down with comic suggestiveness. Even Kensuke, initially frowning over his sudden status as the only dateless one at the gathering, manages to break into a grin and reach across to muss Shinji's hair. Toji, who in the back of his mind had been waiting for a moment such as this, decides to take the opportunity to speak.

"Shinji," he says, "I wanted to tell you something." There's seriousness to his tone that his elated friend misses completely. A smiling Shinji turns to Toji, and the Fourth Child clearly sees the prospect of ruining his friend's mood. Under the table, he runs a hand over the hard plastic of his left "leg". Shinji waits expectantly while Toji searches in vain for his nerve.

"If you score with Morisato, you owe me big-time!" Toji says finally, grinning like a madman. Shinji turns red as Kaagi and Kensuke crack up over Toji's comment. Their laughter draws the scrutiny of some of the girls, among them Hikari. Shinji stays speechless while Toji settles himself, but Kensuke pushes on unabashedly.

"So, Shinji, are you thinking about what Morisato looks like naked?"

"Wha--? I… no!"

"C'mon, that's really disrespectful," Toji interjects.

"Wow, Toji, when did you become such a prude?" queries the freckled boy.

"A month ago this Tuesday," Kaagi laughs. He pantomimes cracking a whip above his head, and the Fourth Child punches him solidly in his whipping arm. "Ow! Lay off, man. You picked her, not me." This comment earns his shoulder another pair of blows.

Shinji watches the two of them trade insults, plus shoot a few his and Kensuke's way, as they vie for the Alpha-male position in the group. It never occurs to him (as it does to Kensuke, who doesn't mention it) that if such a position were chosen solely based on the number of Angels killed, it should be him hands-down. He's content whiling away the time, sitting back and listening to the others.

_Content?_ the thought occurs to Shinji as he makes his way back inside. Kensuke had gone in already, and Toji is still finishing everyone's leftovers. _I guess I am content… for right now. Could I have said that before Yuriko agreed to go out with me…? No, probably not. It's not that I wasn't, but I just couldn't admit it. Though, there is still--_

"Shinji, wait up," Kaagi calls out. Once again, Shinji's reverie is broken as the Sixth Child comes bounding up to him. "I wanted to know… can you come over tonight? I mean… it hasn't been that long that we've been cool with each other, but we are sort of "family"…. I just thought we should hang out or something, you know?"

"Yeah," Shinji says vaguely, the prospect of going to Kaagi's apartment in no way appealing. Since Ritsuko's return, he had been avoiding her out of fear. He can't help still being unsettled by her manic behavior the last time he saw her, in the Room of Gaf. He tries to think of an excuse to placate Kaagi, but the other boy quickly moves on.

"Or, hey," Kaagi says with sudden inspiration, "if you want, Rei and I can come along on your date Saturday with Morisato. It was a lot of pressure off me, when all you guys came on our first date."

"Um… no, that's okay," Shinji replies. He had resolved to avoid Rei as well, more recently for different reasons, but it had begun after that same encounter with Ritsuko. Before the question can even fully form in his mind, it finds its way out of his mouth. "Do you… what do you know about Rei? Like, her past?"

"Well, you know that her parents died when she was nine, right?" Kaagi asks. Shinji nods numbly, lying to Kaagi as he wonders if there is any truth in that information. "It was so traumatic for her that she has no memories of her childhood from before that. You-know-who took her in afterward…. She and I don't talk about him."

_So he doesn't know… and if he did, would he still like her? Would they break up?_ Dangerous thoughts flit through Shinji's head, and the memory of Rei's kiss breaks the surface of his consciousness like a drowning man gasping for air. How much had his resolution to avoid her meant to him as he ran desperately toward her apartment in the rain? He tries to force these remembrances away by continuing to question Kaagi.

"Did you tell her about what really happened between your mom and--?"

"I said," Kaagi interrupts Shinji harshly, "we don't talk about him."

The abrupt statement has served to stop the two boys talking as well. They walk through the halls of the school, hushed by the shadow of their father hanging over them. As they reach classroom 2-A, they spy Rei by the lockers talking with a group of boys. Shinji watches the already-dour Sixth Child's face harden further and his eyes narrow.

"I'll see you in class, Shinji," he says, heading over to Rei.

"Uh… yeah, sure," Shinji says, retreating quickly to avoid the pangs he knows seeing them together would bring.

"I do not have carpeting in my apartment," Kaagi overhears Rei answering a boy. "Though if I did, I see no reason for it to match the curtains." The gathered boys laugh uncontrollably while Rei stares blankly at them. Kaagi marches up and pushes the boy Rei was talking to into the lockers.

"What the hell, asshole?" he yells furiously. The shove was meant only to daze and rile the boy; Kaagi is prepared for retaliation. But before any can come, Rei interposes herself between them. Unhurt, and unable to get to Kaagi without going through Rei, the boy brushes himself off pointlessly and starts walking away toward his own class.

"Jerk," he mutters. To Kaagi's frustration, Rei moves as the boy moves, maintaining her obstructing position. His impotent anger ebbs as he waits for the boy and his friends disperse.

"You shouldn't have done that," he says to Rei once they're alone. "Me standing up for you, that's just chivalrous. If you get all involved, people might figure things out. Most of these kids' parents work at NERV; it'd just take one of them saying something for this to get back to… you know."

"I only wished to prevent someone else from being hurt as a result of your actions," Rei says. Kaagi hears the word "else" louder than any of the others she speaks.

"Sorry," he says with little conviction. Bitterly, he remembers his attack on the Commander and his fight with Shinji on the plane. He regrets having told Rei about that. "But that ass doesn't need you protecting him, Rei. What he needs is a lesson in manners."

"In this case, I was referring to you," she says matter-of-factly. Kaagi is both infuriated by the implication that he wouldn't have won the fight and disarmed by the sweetness of her sentiment.

"Eh… I could have taken him," he says, laughing it off. Rei feels her heart jump as he removes his glasses and regards them. "I might have needed another pair of these if he'd gotten a lucky shot in, though." She has no time to consider the odd feeling as he puts them back on and continues, "This reminds me… Captain Ibuki rode with my sister to work today. Did she see you leave?"

"Yes," she replies. Rei sees the worry creep onto Kaagi's face. "But she already knew of our secret, presumably from Dr. Akagi."

"Well…," he starts. He gives her hand a quick, stealthy squeeze before they enter the classroom. "…just try to be more careful, okay?"

_I do not understand his rationale, that these incidents are somehow my fault,_ she thinks. But she says:

"I will."

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Heat from the lights and the buzz of recording equipment fill what little space remains in the already cramped meeting hall. This Saturday afternoon, deep within the Geo-front, select members of the Press have gathered, eager to hear NERV's official answers to Nanako's report from earlier in the week. Each of them is shocked when they see that Nanako herself among those in attendance.

"I know I've got nothing better to do this afternoon," she says with a smile to anyone bold enough to ask her how she'd gained access. This flippancy usually sends any would-be inquisitor off grumbling, wondering how NERV's number-one critic had wormed her way inside. And, Nanako doesn't doubt, it serves to bolster her journalistic clout in the process. After setting up his camera on a tripod, Mike sidles over to her and whispers conspiratorially.

"Get any good dirt yet?"

"I'm working on it, Mike," Nanako says as she touches up her makeup in a compact. "Patience, huh?"

"You've seen that NERV guy three nights in a row already."

"Damn it, Mike," she hisses, slamming the compact shut, "I may be the best reporter here, but I'm not the only one. A sound-bite like the one you just dropped is blood in the water for these sharks!"

"Sorry, Nani," he says, looking around. He moves away from her, back to his equipment, having to edge around a couple of other people to do so. Over the din, he calls to her, "Let's set up the angle of the shot, okay?" Nanako nods and checks her watch.

"Four-thirty," she says thoughtfully. "I see what they're doing. They don't care about international P.R., as long as the home front is happy. We won't even be in time to make the late local news on the U.S. West Coast."

"Still got your ace in the hole, though," Mike says as he checks the light levels.

"Mike…," Nanako begins. She holds up her microphone, practicing her most pleasant smile for his camera. Through her affected veneer of zeal, she continues, "…shut your mouth before I shut it for you."

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At the same time, in an apartment on the outskirts of the city, Shinji Ikari is preparing dinner for his two housemates. Neither has yet come home, with Asuka on clean-up duty at school and Misato staying late again at NERV. Even if Misato had mentioned the reason for her overtime today, Shinji doesn't remember it. He just smiles contentedly at the simmering vegetables, assured in the fact that both of them will be home in time to eat.

With nothing besides the broad, omnipresent worries of a teenage Eva pilot to concern him, his thoughts turn to his date tonight and Yuriko in general. He wonders what she'll wear, as he's never seen her in anything but her school uniform. He wonders if she'd like what he's cooking right now. What sorts of foods does she like? He makes a mental note to ask before deciding where to take her to eat. He also hopes, after all the talking they've already done, he hasn't exhausted everything of interest that he has to say.

In his pocket, Shinji's cell phone begins buzzing excitedly. He moves out of the kitchen, away from the sounds of cooking, before extracting it. The caller-I.D. readout tells him that it's Yuriko, but he stands in the living room without answering through another two buzzes. Raw emotions course through him, but no actual thoughts or words. He'd rather find out later than sooner that he can no longer carry a conversation. On the other hand, he'd rather hear her voice than not. Anxiously, he answers.

"Yuriko, hi," Shinji says. He waits for her to reply, but she doesn't. He can hear sporadic whimpers quietly breaking through on the other end of the line. "Yuriko?"

"Unh…," she starts, sniffling a bit, "…I can't… I can't believe you lied to me."

"What?" Shinji breathes. He'd been called many hurtful things, mostly by his father or by himself, but never a liar. "Lied? Yuriko, I never--"

"Stop!" she shouts in angry despair. "It's all over TV, Shinji; you're not fooling anyone anymore…. I thought you were nice, and brave, and sensitive, but you're just… you made everything up! I don't know you at all…." There's a click, and the line goes dead.

Shinji is left to imagine the sound of her completely breaking down. He's punishing himself but also flattering himself with the thought of her crying over him. He see-saws between guilt and elation, crushed that he'd somehow hurt her, but so happy that she'd cared enough about him to be hurt. Despite this inner turmoil, one thought pushes to the forefront of his mind… _Why?_

He bolts for the television, skipping the inevitable search for its remote to hammer on the buttons on the front. The machine comes to life on a random channel, but he's sure that he's now seeing what Yuriko saw. Either he was lucky enough to alight on the correct station, or she hadn't exaggerated at all about it being all over TV. He suspects the latter, as he is definitely not feeling lucky.

He'd almost gotten used to the world turning into a surreal nightmare in front of him, but he'd also be the first to say that it never gets any easier to take. Shinji sits down stiffly, unable to turn his eyes from the screen. The kanji superimposed over the picture indicate that he's watching a live press-conference being held at NERV. A balding man in a business suit stands before a podium adorned with microphones, addressing the crowd. But Shinji's gaze is intent on the five people standing behind him… five people dressed in plug-suits, nervously smiling and waving at all the cameras… five people that Shinji has never seen before in his life.

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Episode Midpoint


End file.
